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Test Specifications For The Redesigned SAT PDF
Test Specifications For The Redesigned SAT PDF
for the
Redesigned SAT ®
T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT
© 2015 The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, SAT, and the acorn logo are
registered trademarks of the College Board. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and
National Merit Scholarship Corporation. All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective
owners. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
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2 Executive Summary
44 Test Summary
46 Key Features
62 Test Summary
65 Key Features
72 Test Summary
73 Key Features
81 Summary
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
The sat® is the College Board’s flagship college and career readiness The Redesigned SAT
This document is part of an ongoing
assessment. For nearly a century, it has been used successfully worldwide
series of materials describing the
in combination with factors such as high school gpa to assess student redesign of the sat being undertaken
preparedness for and to predict student success in postsecondary by the College Board. This initial
education. Each year the sat is taken by more than 1.6 million students release is intended to offer readers
and used by thousands of high school counselors and postsecondary a detailed overview of the rationale
admission officers around the world. for and the aims and nature of the
redesign, as well as information
Recent sat results tell a troubling story about students’ readiness and about key elements of the various
components comprising the new test.
likelihood for success in their postsecondary endeavors. Notably,
Subsequent releases in the series will
57 percent of sat takers in the 2013 cohort lacked the academic skills to provide additional information for
succeed in college-entry, credit-bearing courses without remediation in various audiences on specific topics
at least one subject, and the success rates for such remediation leading related to the redesign.
to postsecondary completion are far too low. At the same time, the
nature of life and work in the United States has transformed to the point
where at least some degree of postsecondary education or training is
increasingly required for access to middle-class jobs. In short, far too few
students are ready to succeed in the kinds of education and training that
they will need to participate effectively in an increasingly competitive
economy — a circumstance that represents a tragedy for those
individuals whose potential isn’t being realized and a serious threat to
the nation’s economy and democracy.
Recognizing that it can and must do more to help all students not only
be ready for college and workforce training programs but also succeed
in them, the College Board is committing to an opportunity agenda that
is focused on propelling students into opportunities they have earned in
high school. One of the major components of this agenda has been the
redesign of the sat.
Drawing on extensive input and advice from its members, its partner
organizations (such as the National Merit Scholarship Corporation,
which cosponsors the psat/nmsqt®), and postsecondary and k–12
experts, the College Board determined that the sat needed to meet
three challenges. First, the test must provide to higher education a more
comprehensive and informative picture of student readiness for college-
level work while sustaining, and ideally improving, the ability of the test
to predict college success. Second, the test must become more clearly
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All these changes are firmly grounded in evidence about what is needed
for all students to be ready for and to succeed in college and workforce
training programs. Research strongly supports the emphasis of the
redesigned sat’s English language arts/literacy components on (1) a
specified range of text complexity consistent with college and workforce
training requirements, (2) source analysis and skilled use of evidence,
(3) data in informational graphics, (4) words in context, (5) language
conventions and effective language use more generally, and (6) literacy
across the disciplines. Evidence is equally supportive of the emphasis
of the redesigned sat’s math component on (1) a set of essential math
knowledge, skills, and understandings in algebra, advanced topics,
and additional topics in math, (2) problem solving and data analysis in
addressing real-life problems (e.g., the ability to create a representation
of a problem, consider the units involved, attend to the meaning of
quantities, and know and use different properties of operations and
objects), and (3) using the calculator as a tool, discerning when and when
not to use a calculator to solve problems efficiently, and performing
important mathematical tasks without a calculator.
To assess students’ achievement in these and other areas, the redesigned sat
is organized into four components: a Reading Test, a Writing and Language
Test, a Math Test, and an Essay direct-writing task, which is optional.
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to any one domain; instead, they are widely applicable across disciplines,
and their meaning is derived in large part through the context in which
they are used. Paired passages, an important element of the current sat’s
Critical Reading section, remain a consistent part of the redesigned sat’s
Reading Test.
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The redesigned sat’s Math Test focuses strongly on algebra and devotes
particular attention to the heart of the subject, which research shows
is disproportionately important for college and career readiness and
success: students’ ability to analyze, fluently solve, and create linear
equations and inequalities. Problems within the Heart of Algebra
category of the Math Test may also call for an understanding of solving a
problem as a process of reasoning.
In the Math Test, item sets (text, data, and/or graphics plus related
questions) allow the effective measurement of related skills and thus help
inspire productive, cohesive practice that reflects and encourages the
best of classroom work.
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The Math Test contains two portions: one in which the student may
use a calculator and another in which the student may not. The
no-calculator portion allows the redesigned sat to assess fluencies
valued by postsecondary instructors and includes conceptual questions
for which a calculator is not needed. Meanwhile, the calculator portion
gives insight into students’ capacity for strategic use of the tool to
address problems efficiently.
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Executive Summary
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The sat® has come a long way in the last 88 years, evolving with the times
to become the valid, reliable, and widely respected measure of college
and career readiness that it is today. Serving more than 1.6 million
students and thousands of high school counselors and postsecondary
admission officers around the world each year, the sat plays critical
roles in measuring student achievement and readiness and in helping
students make successful transitions into college and workforce training
programs after high school graduation.
Unfortunately, recent data from the sat suggest that far too many high
school students are unprepared for those transitions. According to
the College Board’s 2013 SAT Report on College & Career Readiness,
more than half (57 percent) of sat takers in the 2013 cohort lacked
the academic skills to succeed in college-entry, credit-bearing courses
without remediation in at least one subject. Indeed, no discernible
improvement in students’ readiness levels can be seen over the period
from 2009 to 2013, a time when average sat scores have remained
virtually unchanged. It’s alarming but not surprising, then, that over 30
percent of entering college students require remediation (ranging from
26.3 percent for public four-year institutions to 40.8 percent for public
two-year institutions) — a trap from which few students, particularly
underrepresented students, escape with the requisite foundation of skills
to enter credit-bearing courses and complete a college degree.1
1 The College Board, 2013 SAT Report on College & Career Readiness (New York: The College Board, 2013), 3,
http://media.collegeboard.com/homeOrg/content/pdf/sat-report-college-career-readiness-2013.pdf;
David Radwin, Jennifer Wine, Peter Siegel, and Michael Bryan, 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
(NPSAS:12): Student Financial Aid Estimates for 2011-12 (NCES 2013-165) (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, 2013), http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
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credit-bearing courses, they are much more likely to enter, persist, and
complete a degree compared to those who are not prepared.2
There’s a great deal of work ahead of us if we want to realize the full potential
of our nation’s youth and to reclaim the kind of security and prosperity that
many Americans once took for granted. We can’t continue to allow vast
numbers of our country’s students to fall behind academically. It’s therefore
critical that we do everything possible to ensure that all students are on a
trajectory to gain meaningful access to postsecondary courses and workforce
training programs, complete degrees and certifications, and participate
successfully in an increasingly competitive and fluid global economy.
2 Jeffrey Wyatt et al., SAT Benchmarks: Development of a College Readiness Benchmark and Its Relationship to
Secondary and Postsecondary School Performance (College Board Research Report 2011-5) (New York: The College
Board, 2011), 23, http://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/researchreport
2011-5-sat-college-readiness-benchmark-secondary-performance.pdf; Krista D. Mattern, Emily J. Shaw, and
Jessica Marini, Does College Readiness Translate to College Completion? (New York: The College Board, in press).
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admission officers, financial aid staff, and others will help widen and College and Career Readiness:
deepen the impact of this work. A Goal for All
High school graduates who are
college and career ready have a
As a critical first step, we’ve redesigned the sat, our flagship college and
high likelihood of successfully
career readiness assessment. The sat needs to promote opportunities for
entering some type of postsecondary
students by becoming more closely linked with rich, rigorous course work. education (i.e., four-year institution,
It also must become a force within a larger system that delivers far more two-year institution, trade school,
educational opportunities to students who have earned them. technical school, and/or workforce
training program) without
We believe strongly that our opportunity agenda must be founded remediation. Research shows that
on the bedrock of what is truly required for postsecondary readiness the threshold reading and math skills
and success. Among the findings repeatedly validated by high-quality required for college readiness are
essentially the same as those required
research are the following:
for career training readiness, meaning
that sharply differentiated forms of
1. Students who focus on learning fewer, more important things in depth preparation aren’t required.*
have a stronger foundation on which to build when they proceed to
college and career. This kind of clarity in instruction, centered on the The College Board will continue to
essentials of college and career readiness, is a hallmark of classrooms support efforts to promote college
and teachers that dramatically impact achievement and prepare students and career readiness and success for
for college and career success. all students — most importantly, the
2. Students who take rigorous courses as part of their k–12 education are vital work that goes on in thousands
of classrooms across the nation
much more likely to be ready for and succeed in college and workforce
every day. In all its undertakings in
training programs than are students who don’t take rigorous courses. this area, including the redesign of
3. Students who fall behind academically need early, productive the sat, the College Board favors
interventions that help them develop academic and noncognitive skills evidence-based approaches that
needed to succeed. use the best available information
4. Students who are prepared for postsecondary education must be about what’s required for college
made aware of and empowered to take advantage of the opportunities and career readiness and success.
they’ve earned.3 In so doing, we draw on numerous
sources: results of national high
We know from our work with higher education as well as from school and postsecondary curriculum
surveys, including surveys conducted
other sources that there is a critical set of knowledge, skills, and
periodically by the College Board;
understandings that disproportionately predicts student success in feedback from our membership,
college and workforce training programs. Based on a wealth of evidence our partner organizations, and
about essential prerequisites for student success in postsecondary independent subject-matter
education, we conclude that students must be able to: experts; analyses of College Board
longitudinal data on successful college
graduates; and scholarly research.
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Evidence such as this of what’s truly important for college and career
readiness pervades the work of the College Board in both instruction
and assessment and will be the focus not just of the sat but also of the
models of student work that we will partner with educators to develop
and offer in grades 6–12 — models that will illustrate how to prepare all
students for the real demands of first-year, credit-bearing college courses
and workforce training programs. The ela/literacy and mathematics
knowledge, skills, and understandings identified by this evidence are
the building blocks for all of the complex and integrated work that
students will do in college and career, whether that is developing and
presenting an argument about the causes of the Civil War for their U.S.
history course, designing and implementing a lab experiment to test
a hypothesis about gene mutations for their biology class, analyzing a
master painter’s work for their studio art course, drafting a business plan
for a start-up company, or creating computer code that will automatically
answer simple questions for a local business.
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When students leave high school unprepared for college, career, and life,
we as a society all suffer. To address this problem, we in the education
community must all take responsibility. Therefore, when it came time to
redesign the sat to better achieve the goal of college and career readiness
and success for all students, we at the College Board sought input and
advice from our members in k–12 and postsecondary education: admission
officers, financial aid officers, faculty, teachers, high school and college
counselors, principals, administrators, significant partnership organizations
such as the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and others.
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K12 FEEDBACK
Our colleagues and partners in k–12 have also deeply informed the
redesign of the sat, influencing both the content of the new exam and
related tools, reports, and services that support the broader goal of
college and career readiness and success for all students.
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Two major structural changes in the redesigned sat are worth noting
here. First, all selected response items will have four alternative
responses, not the five found in the current sat. Our research has
indicated that the fifth answer choice added little to the measurement
value of questions and, in some cases, actually detracted from the quality
of the question content.
Second, the correction for guessing used to score the current sat will not
be used to score the redesigned test. Under the new “rights-only” scoring
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method, each correct answer will receive one point, and each incorrect
answer will receive no points. This move to rights-only scoring, in which
scores are based only on the number of questions test-takers answer
correctly, encourages students to give the best answer they have for every
question without fear of being penalized for making their best effort.
These changes have been made to make the test-taking process more
straightforward for students, to remove from that process any extraneous
test-taking strategies that are irrelevant to the achievement constructs being
measured, and to help students use their time efficiently as they take the test.
COMPARISON OF THE MAJOR FEATURES OF THE CURRENT SAT AND REDESIGNED SAT
Category Current SAT Redesigned SAT
Total Testing Time 3 hours and 45 minutes 3 hours (plus 50 minutes for the Essay [optional])
Important Features » Emphasis on general reasoning » Continued emphasis on reasoning alongside a clearer,
skills stronger focus on the knowledge, skills, and understandings
» Emphasis on vocabulary, often in most important for college and career readiness and success
limited contexts » Greater emphasis on the meaning of words in extended
» Complex scoring (a point for a contexts and on how word choice shapes meaning, tone,
correct answer and a deduction and impact
for an incorrect answer; » Rights-only scoring (a point for a correct answer but no
blank responses have no impact deduction for an incorrect answer; blank responses have
on scores) no impact on scores)
Essay » Required and given at the » Optional and given at the end of the SAT; postsecondary
beginning of the SAT institutions determine whether they will require the Essay
» 25 minutes to write the essay for admission
» Tests writing skill; students take a » 50 minutes to write the essay
position on a presented issue » Tests reading, analysis, and writing skills; students produce
a written analysis of a provided source text
Score Reporting » Scale ranging from 600 to 2400 » Scale ranging from 400 to 1600
» Scale ranging from 200 to 800 » Scale ranging from 200 to 800 for Evidence-Based Reading
for Critical Reading; 200 to 800 and Writing; 200 to 800 for Math; 2 to 8 on each of three
for Mathematics; 200 to 800 for dimensions for Essay*
Writing » Essay results reported separately
» Essay results scaled to
multiple-choice Writing
Subscore Reporting None Subscores for every test, providing added insight for students,
parents, admission officers, educators, and counselors
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COMPARISON OF TEST LENGTH AND TIMING: CURRENT SAT AND REDESIGNED SAT
Current SAT Redesigned SAT
Essay 25 1 Essay 50 1
(optional)
Mathematics 70 54 Math 80 58
Total Score 0 1
Section Scores 2 2
Subscores N/A 7
TOTAL SCORE
The redesigned sat will report a total score that will be the sum of two
section scores: (1) Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and (2) Math.
The sat total score will be reported on a scale ranging from 400 to
1600. The scores for the Essay will be reported separately and will not be
factored into the total score.
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SECTION SCORES
The redesigned sat will report two section (domain) scores: (1) Evidence-
Based Reading and Writing, which will be the sum of the Reading Test
score and the Writing and Language Test score multiplied by 10, and
(2) Math. Each of the two section scores will be reported on a scale
ranging from 200 to 800. The scores for the Essay will be reported
separately and will not be factored into the section scores.
TEST SCORES
The redesigned sat will report three test scores, each on a scale
ranging from 10 to 40: (1) Reading Test score; (2) Writing and
Language Test score; (3) Math Test score. The Math Test score will
be the Math section score divided by 20. The sat Essay score will be
reported separately. The Essay task will report three scores on three
dimensions: Reading, Analysis, and Writing.
CROSSTEST SCORES
The redesigned sat will also report two cross-test scores: (1) Analysis in
History/Social Studies and (2) Analysis in Science. Each of these scores
will be reported on a scale ranging from 10 to 40. These scores are based
on selected questions in the sat Reading, Writing and Language, and
Math Tests and will reflect the application of reading, writing, language,
and math skills in history/social studies and science contexts.
SUBSCORES
The redesigned sat will report multiple subscores for Reading, Writing
and Language, and Math. The Reading and Writing and Language Tests
will contribute questions to two subscores: (1) Command of Evidence
and (2) Words in Context. The Writing and Language Test will also
report two additional subscores: (1) Expression of Ideas and
(2) Standard English Conventions.
The Math Test will report three subscores: (1) Heart of Algebra,
(2) Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and (3) Passport to Advanced Math.
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In total the redesigned sat will report seven subscores, each on a scale
ranging from 1 to 15.
The table below summarizes the scores that will be reported on the
redesigned sat. In total, we will report:
Total Score
400–1600
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Concordance
Because the redesigned sat is a different test than the current sat, a numerical
score on one test will not be equivalent to the same numerical score on the
other. Therefore, to help higher education admission officers, k–12 educators
and counselors, and students and parents transition to the new test scores, we
will be providing a concordance between the scores on the current sat and
the redesigned sat that shows how to relate the scores of one test to the scores
of the other. In particular, the concordance will help high school counselors
and admission officers maintain continuity between data collected from
the current sat and the redesigned sat, and will provide admission officers
with a convenient way to evaluate applicants, especially those who will enter
college in 2017 (some of whom will have taken the current test while others
will have taken the new test). The concordance information will be released
immediately after the first operational administration of the redesigned sat
in 2016. The data format of the concordance information will be released
earlier, in 2014, to help postsecondary institutions prepare to receive, process,
and integrate this information into their data systems. We will also provide
a concordance linking scores on the redesigned sat and the act test; this
concordance will be derived from the concordance between the current sat
and the redesigned sat.
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Summary
Our students and our nation face significant challenges if the goal
of college and career readiness for all is not met. Moreover, just
getting students ready for college and workforce training programs
isn’t enough; we need to help equip them with the tools to succeed
in their postsecondary programs and in life more generally. To that
end, the College Board is committed to an opportunity agenda that is
focused on helping students take advantage of the opportunities they
have earned. This agenda includes a redesign of our flagship college
and career readiness assessment, the sat.
The redesigned sat will (1) more clearly and transparently focus on a
set of knowledge, skills, and understandings that research evidence has
shown to be essential for college and career readiness and success, (2)
model and connect with meaningful, engaging work worth doing in
rigorous high school classrooms, (3) sustain if not improve the prediction
of postsecondary success, and (4) monitor students’ college and career
readiness to identify those students who are falling behind. The redesign
was deeply influenced by both k–12 and postsecondary educators. The
new test has also been purpose-built to convey important information
about students’ relative strengths and needs, doing so in part through a
series of scores and in part by anchoring a vertically aligned, longitudinal
assessment system, both of which have been designed to provide more
information about students than ever before. All in all, the redesigned
sat has been created to serve as a force that propels students into the
opportunities they have earned.
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Executive Summary
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Together, the sat Reading and sat Writing and Language Tests make
up the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section score of the sat’s
battery of tests, with the Essay offering scores that complement those
from the other two English language arts/literacy assessments.
TEXT COMPLEXITY
Numerous studies have highlighted the long-standing gap between the high
level of challenge posed by the required readings in college-entry, credit-
bearing courses and workforce training programs and the comparatively
simpler readings used in much of k–12 education, including many high
school courses. For example, Marilyn Jager Adams, reviewing in 2009
the research literature on the challenges students face reading complex
texts, helped collect a range of scholarly evidence documenting a decades-
long decline in k–12 text complexity even as college and career readiness
demands on students’ reading skills remained high. The disparity between
high school and postsecondary expectations for text complexity has left
too many students underprepared for the rigors of reading in college and
careers. One sign of this problem can be found in recent sat test data, which
indicate that only about half of all test-takers attained a score on the Critical
Reading test high enough for them to be considered college ready.1
1 Adams, “The Challenge of Advanced Texts: The Interdependence of Reading and Learning,” in Reading More,
Reading Better: Are American Students Reading Enough of the Right Stuff?, ed. Elfrieda H. Hiebert (New York:
Guilford, 2009), 163–89; Jeffrey Wyatt et al., SAT Benchmarks: Development of a College Readiness Benchmark
and Its Relationship to Secondary and Postsecondary School Performance, Research Report 2011-5 (New York:
The College Board, 2011), 13, https://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/
researchreport-2011-5-sat-college-readiness-benchmark-secondary-performance.pdf.
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The redesigned sat will align the levels of text complexity represented
in the test’s passages with the requirements of first-year college courses
and workforce training programs. This alignment supports the emerging
movement to close the preparedness gap by making text complexity
a central part of the test design. Students taking the redesigned sat’s
Reading Test and Writing and Language Test will be asked to engage
with passages selected, in part, to exhibit a range of text complexities up
through and including levels comparable to those expected of students
entering college and workforce training programs. Students taking the
redesigned sat’s Essay will be asked to engage with a passage that is rich
and challenging, but not so difficult that high school juniors and seniors
cannot produce an effective written response to it. To ensure that texts
on the sat are appropriately complex — challenging but not inaccessible
to college- and career-ready test-takers — test development staff make
use of feedback from secondary and postsecondary subject-matter
experts and test data on student performance as well as quantitative and
qualitative measures of text complexity. Considered together, the sat
Reading, sat Writing and Language, and sat Essay Tests are capable of
determining whether students can read, improve, and analyze texts at
levels of difficulty required of incoming postsecondary students.
2 College Board, College Board Standards for College Success: English Language Arts (New York: The College
Board, 2006), http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/association/academic/english
language-arts_cbscs.pdf; Mary Seburn, Sara Frain, and David T. Conley, Job Training Programs Curriculum Study
(Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center, 2013), http://www.nagb.org/content/nagb/assets/
documents/what-we-do/preparedness-research/judgmental-standard-setting-studies/job-training
programs-curriculum-study.pdf; Achieve, The Education Trust, and Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, The
American Diploma Project: Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts (Washington, DC: Achieve,
2004), http://www.achieve.org/files/ReadyorNot.pdf; YoungKoung Kim, Andrew Wiley, and Sheryl Packman,
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National Curriculum Survey on English and Mathematics (New York: The College Board, 2012), 7–15, https://
research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/researchreport-2011-13-curriculum
survey-english-mathematics.pdf; ACT, ACT National Curriculum Survey 2009 (Iowa City, IA: ACT, 2009), 46–47,
57–58, http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/NationalCurriculumSurvey2009.pdf; “Working with
Sources,” Duke University Thompson Writing Program, accessed January 10, 2014, http://twp.duke.edu/twp
writing-studio/resources/working-with-sources; “Critically Analyzing Information Sources,” Cornell University
Library, accessed January 10, 2014, http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=318835&sid=2612843;
“Critically Analyzing Information Sources,” Texas A&M University Libraries, accessed January 10, 2014, http://
library.tamu.edu/help/help-yourself/using-materials-services/critically-analyzing-information-sources.
html; “Critical Evaluation of Resources,” University of California, Berkeley Library, last modified November 2009,
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/evaluation.html.
3 College Board, College Board Standards for College Success: English Language Arts (New York: The College Board,
2006); College Board, College Board Standards for College Success: Mathematics and Statistics (New York: The College
Board, 2006), http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/association/academic/mathematics
statistics_cbscs.pdf; College Board, College Board Standards for College Success: Science (New York: The College
Board, 2009), http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/cbscs-science-standards-2009.pdf; Friel,
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WORDS IN CONTEXT
Studies going back nearly a century have documented the strong link
between vocabulary and comprehension. With a broad and deep
vocabulary, readers are more likely to understand what they read and, in
turn, to derive the meaning of words in the contexts in which they appear.
Indeed, the role of vocabulary in reading comprehension is difficult to
overstate given the word richness of text. A quick comparison between
oral and written language is instructive: while the conversation of college-
educated adults contains an average of 17.3 rare words per thousand, even
children’s books exhibit almost double that frequency (30.9).4
Curcio, and Bright, “Making Sense of Graphs: Critical Factors Influencing Comprehension and Instructional
Implications,” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 32, no. 2 (March 2001): 124; Gal, “Adults’
Statistical Literacy: Meanings, Components, Responsibilities,” International Statistical Review 70, no. 1
(April 2002): 1–3.
4 Guy Montrose Whipple, ed., Report of the National Committee on Reading: Twenty-Fourth Yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education, Part 1 (Bloomington, IN: Public School Publishing Company, 1925); Wesley C.
Becker, “Teaching Reading and Language to the Disadvantaged — What We Have Learned from Field Research,”
Harvard Educational Review 47, no. 4 (Winter 1977): 518–43; Keith E. Stanovich, “Matthew Effects in Reading:
Some Consequences of Individual Differences in the Acquisition of Literacy,” Reading Research Quarterly
21, no. 4 (Fall 1986): 360–406; National Reading Panel (U.S.), National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read; An Evidence-Based Assessment of
the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction; Reports of the Subgroups
(Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), http://www.nichd.nih.
gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf; National Center for Education Statistics, The Nation’s Report
Card: Vocabulary Results from the 2009 and 2011 NAEP Reading Assessments, NCES 2013–452 (Washington, DC:
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2013), http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
pdf/main2011/2013452.pdf; Donald P. Hayes and Margaret G. Ahrens, “Vocabulary Simplification for Children:
A Special Case of ‘Motherese’?,” Journal of Child Language 15, no. 2 (June 1988): 395–410.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION II
Which words deserve the most instructional attention becomes the next
critical matter, given the vast number of words that could be taught and
the all-too-real limits on instructional time. Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G.
McKeown, and Linda Kucan have sensibly focused on what they refer to
as Tier Two words — “words that are of high utility for mature language
users and are found across a variety of domains” — because they appear
frequently in written texts (but uncommonly in oral language) across a wide
range of subjects. (By contrast, Tier One words require little instruction for
most students because they are generally acquired through conversation,
and Tier Three words are either limited to a certain domain of knowledge
— and thus are best studied as part of work in that domain — or too rare to
be found with any frequency in written text.) Although differing somewhat
in the terms for and boundaries of their word levels, other researchers have
reached a similar conclusion about the need to concentrate instruction on
these high-utility words.6
5 Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan, Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction,
2nd ed. (New York: Guilford, 2013), 1–18; William E. Nagy, Patricia A. Herman, and Richard C. Anderson,
“Learning Words from Context,” Reading Research Quarterly 20, no. 2 (Winter 1985): 233–53; James F. Baumann
and Edward J. Kame’enui, “Research on Vocabulary Instruction: Ode to Voltaire,” in Handbook of Research on
Teaching the English Language Arts, ed. James Flood et al. (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 604–32; Isabel Beck
and Margaret McKeown, “Conditions of Vocabulary Acquisition,” in Handbook of Reading Research, vol. 2,
ed. Rebecca Barr et al. (1991; reprint, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996), 789–814; Michael F. Graves, “Vocabulary
Learning and Instruction,” Review of Research in Education 13 (1986): 49–89; Catherine E. Snow et al., Is Literacy
Enough?: Pathways to Academic Success for Adolescents (Baltimore, MD: Brookes, 2007); Camille L. Z. Blachowicz
et al., “Vocabulary: Questions from the Classroom,” Reading Research Quarterly 41, no. 4 (October/November/
December 2006): 524–39; National Reading Panel, Report; Katherine Anne Dougherty Stahl, Steven A. Stahl,
and Michael C. McKenna, “The Development of Phonological Awareness and Orthographic Processing in
Reading Recovery,” Literacy Teaching and Learning 4, no. 1 (1999): 27–42.
6 Beck, McKeown, and Kucan, Bringing Words to Life , 19–25; Steven A. Stahl and William E. Nagy, Teaching Word
Meanings (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2006); I. S. P. Nation, Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2001). Both Stahl and Nagy’s and Nation’s approaches are discussed in Bringing
Words to Life by Beck and her colleagues.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION II
DISCIPLINARY LITERACY
7 Micciche, “Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar,” College Composition and Communication 55, no. 4 (June
2004): 719 (emphasis in original); Derewianka, “Metalinguistic Understanding and Literacy Development,”
Reading Today Online, September 12, 2013, http://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy
daily/2013/09/13/metalinguistic-understanding-and-literacy-development; Schleppegrell, The Language of
Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004), 2.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION II
8 Shanahan, Shanahan, and Misischia, “Analysis of Expert Readers in Three Disciplines: History, Mathematics,
and Chemistry,” Journal of Literacy Research 43, no. 4 (December 2011): 395; Charis McGaughy, Rick Bryck, and
Alicia de González, California Diploma Project Technical Report III: Validity Study; Validity Study of the Health
Sciences and Medical Technology Standards (Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center, 2012),
https://www.epiconline.org/publications/documents/CDP_ValidityStudyTechnicalReport_Final.pdf.
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below, the sat Math Test will reward a much stronger command
of fewer, more important topics. To succeed on the redesigned sat,
students will need to exhibit command of mathematical practices,
fluency with mathematical procedures, and conceptual understanding
of mathematical ideas. In keeping with the evidence, the exam will also
provide opportunities for richer applied problems.
» a focus on content that matters most for college and career readiness;
» an emphasis on problem solving and data analysis; and
» the inclusion of both calculator and no-calculator portions as well as
attention to the use of a calculator as a tool.
The results of this disconnect can be seen in the high remediation rates
that are common in postsecondary institutions. In remedial classes,
students often must pay out of their own pocket to learn what they
ought to have learned in the k–12 school system. Students in remedial
classes also face lower odds of finishing their desired degree program.
the exam’s concentrated focus on the content that matters most for
postsecondary education.
9 ACT,
National Curriculum Survey 2009, 43.
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10 David T. Conley, Understanding University Success (Eugene, OR: Center for Educational Policy Research,
University of Oregon, 2003), http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED476300; ACT, National Curriculum Survey 2009, 43.
11 Informed by postsecondary survey data in Conley et al., Reaching the Goal: The Applicability and Importance
of the Common Core State Standards to College and Career Readiness (Eugene, OR: Educational Policy
Improvement Center, 2011), http://www.epiconline.org/publications/document-detail.dot?id=09535d00
466a-498f-ac44-98f4c372d9c1.
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20
A
A
Percentage of A
15
postsecondary A A N
N
N A
instructors A A N
F A
A A
judging
N
CCSSM N G
10 A
N S A
content F F A
F
standard A A
S A N N
a prerequisite A A G
G G
F F AN F
S FF F F G G
5 S
S S S F F
F F F A NN G GG G GGG
S F G
G G G GGGG
F G N
S S S S A N G G GGG G GG G
A G G
S NN N G
S SS N N A
G
G
S S
S S S S S N NN NN
0
60 70 80 90 100
The horizontal axis plots postsecondary (two- and four-year) instructor evaluation of the applicability of the
CCSSM content standard to introductory college courses, ranging from most applicable (left) to least (right).
The vertical axis plots the percentage of postsecondary instructors judging the importance of the CCSSM
content standard as a prerequisite to introductory college courses. Bubbles are larger or smaller, according to
importance. Legend: N = Number and Quantity; A = Algebra; F = Functions; G = Geometry; S = Statistics
and Probability.
In October 2013, the Council of Chief State School Officers released a set
of summative assessment principles for ela /literacy and mathematics
assessments aligned to college and career readiness standards. These
assessment principles are meant to form the basis for states’ evaluations
of their assessment systems. The principles greatly stress the importance
of focusing summative assessments on what matters most. The very first
alignment principle in mathematics is that of “focusing strongly on the
content most needed for success in later mathematics.” As the document
notes, “In a [college- and career-ready]-aligned assessment system . . .
high school focuses on widely applicable prerequisites for careers and
postsecondary education.”12 The redesigned sat embraces this principle.
12 Council of Chief State School Officers, States’ Commitment to High-Quality Assessments Aligned to College- and
Career-Readiness (Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013), http://www.ccsso.org/
documents/2013/CCSSO%20Assessment%20Quality%20Principles%2010-1-13%20FINAL.pdf.
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Such problems are an ideal connection point for science and for college
and career readiness because so many of the quantities in applied science
involve proportional relationships and/or are formed by division (such
as rates, densities, and gradients). Consequently, much elementary
applied science amounts to thinking proportionally and combining
proportions.15 Consider, for example, a problem in which students use
reference data to determine the energy cost of different fuels, drawing on
proportional relationships, unit conversion, and other skills. Practical,
career-related contexts, such as scale drawings of diesel mechanics
and construction estimating, are dense with unit rates, proportional
relationships, percentages, and the like.
13 David T. Conley and Charis McGaughy, Analysis of Assignments from Entry-Level College Courses (Eugene,
OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center, in progress); Conley et al., College Board Advanced Placement®
Best Practices Course Study (Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center, 2006); National Council on
Education and the Disciplines, Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy (Princeton, NJ:
National Council on Education and the Disciplines, 2001), http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/QL/
MathAndDemocracy.pdf.
14 National Center on Education and the Economy, What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready? The
Mathematics Required of First Year Community College Students (Washington, DC: National Center on Education
and the Economy, 2013), 2, http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NCEE_MathReport_
May20131.pdf.
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The data are clear that postsecondary instructors expect students to be fluent
in rational number arithmetic.16 Having a no-calculator portion on the
redesigned sat will help assure postsecondary instructors that students who
earn high scores on the sat do not lack the basic prerequisites.
A calculator is a tool, and decisions about when and when not to use it
involve a variety of considerations. For example, consider a problem where
the main goal is to choose a mathematical model for a complex situation,
perform some calculations with the model, and then relate the results of
these calculations back to the original situation. On the one hand, using a
calculator enables the student to focus on the efficacy of the model and the
evaluation of its conclusions. On the other hand, a robust sense of problem
solving and data analysis is crucial to monitoring the calculations, and a
strong feeling for algebraic structure guides wise choices in constructing
the model and executing its procedures. It is possible to rely too much
on the computational abilities of the calculator at the expense of paying
attention to the abstract and quantitative reasoning that undergirds the
math. It is, conversely, also possible to get bogged down in numerical and
algebraic calculations that are best handled by technology.
16 The highest-rated skill in the ACT National Curriculum Survey in both 2005–2006 and 2009 was “Perform
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on signed rational numbers.” See ACT, ACT National
Curriculum Survey 2005–2006 (Iowa City, IA: ACT, 2007), 41, http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/
NationalCurriculumSurvey2006.pdf, and ACT, National Curriculum Survey 2009, 54. Similar conclusions were
reached in the Standards for Success study of instructors at Association of American Universities institutions.
See Conley, Understanding University Success.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION II
Summary
All of the new tests that are part of the redesigned sat are deeply informed
by evidence about essential requirements for college and career readiness
and success and are designed in such a way as to measure robustly
students’ attainment of those key requirements. Two themes unite much
of the preceding discussion of the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
and Essay portions of the exam: a focus on text — its complexity, its use of
evidence, its relationship to data, its disciplinary roots — and on language,
particularly its use in communicating information and ideas clearly and
purposefully. In the Math Test, the redesigned sat calls for sustained
attention on a core of concepts, skills, and understandings rather than a
futile race through a vast array of math soon forgotten. The great beauty
of mathematics is that knowing a few things very well gives students a
wide-ranging readiness. The mathematics on the sat is what students can
expect to see and use throughout a range of college courses, workforce
training programs, and career opportunities.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Executive Summary
The sample questions provided in this document are meant to illustrate the shifts
in the redesigned SAT and are not a full reflection of what will be tested. Actual
questions used on the exam are going through extensive reviews and pretesting to
help ensure that they are clear and fair and that they measure what is intended.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
A Transparent Blueprint
TEST DESCRIPTION
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
questions, students must refer to what the passages say explicitly and
use careful reasoning to draw supportable inferences from the passages.
In some cases, topically related passages in history/social studies and
in science are paired and accompanied by questions assessing whether
students can draw important connections between the passages as well
as comprehend each passage individually. In other cases, history/social
studies and science passages are accompanied by one or more relevant
graphical representations of data — tables, graphs, charts, and the like —
and certain questions require students to interpret the graphic(s) and/or to
synthesize information and ideas presented graphically with those in the
associated passage. (Mathematical computation is, however, not required
to answer these questions.)
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Test Summary
Passage Word Count 3,250 words total from 4 single passages and 1 pair;
500–750 words per passage or paired set
Words in Context
10 questions 19%
(Across Reading and Writing and Language Tests)
Command of Evidence
10 questions 19%
(Across Reading and Writing and Language Tests)
Analysis in Science
21 questions 40%
(Across Math, Reading, and Writing and Language Tests)
(all science questions)
Passage Contents
Graphics
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Key Features
Four distinctive features of the sat Reading Test are described below:
Each feature is illustrated with sample material. Note that in most cases
only the most relevant portion or portions of the passages are presented
here; actual Reading Test passages are significantly longer. (A fuller set
of sample Reading materials can be found in Appendix B.)
WORDS IN CONTEXT
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
[. . .] The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs,
innovation, and productivity in a smaller number of bigger cities and
city-regions. Some regions could end up bloated beyond the capacity
of their infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise stymied by
inadequate human or other resources.
A) emotional.
B) concentrated.
C) brilliant.
D) determined.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so
resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Although, of course, no one sat test question could get at all of these
usages and levels of meaning, the redesigned test could, for instance,
focus on how two different uses of a word such as “dedicate” vary in
meaning, tone, and overall rhetorical effect.
COMMAND OF EVIDENCE
The sat Reading Test requires students not only to derive information
and ideas from a text but also in some cases to identify the portion of the
text that serves as the best evidence for the conclusions they reach. In
this way, students both interpret text and back up their interpretation by
citing the most relevant textual support. The following passage excerpt
and related pair of sample questions help illustrate this concept. (Note
that for convenience, the lines cited in the first question in the pair are
highlighted in the passage excerpt, and the lines cited in the second
question in the pair are reprinted below each answer choice; in an
actual test, students would have to refer back to the passage, which has
numbered lines. See also the complete passage in Appendix B for the full
context in which these skills are measured; additional sample questions
associated with this passage can be found in that appendix as well. The
passage is also presented in the text complexity examples below.)
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
the whole community,” said Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, number 65.
“We divide into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused.”*
Adapted from a speech delivered by Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas on July 25, 1974,
as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous
question?
The division between the two branches of the legislature, the House and the
Senate, assigning to the one the right to accuse and to the other the right to
judge—the framers of this Constitution were very astute.
The first of the two questions asks students to analyze a distinction that
Barbara Jordan draws in her speech between two types of “parties”: the
informal associations to which Alexander Hamilton refers and formal,
organized political parties such as the modern-day Republican and
Democratic parties. The best answer to this question is choice A. Jordan
anticipates that listeners to her speech might misinterpret her use of
Hamilton’s quotation as suggesting that she thinks impeachment is
essentially a tool of organized political parties to achieve partisan ends,
with one party attacking and another defending the president. In the
above excerpt of her speech and in the larger reading passage, Jordan
makes clear that she thinks impeachment should be reserved only for
the most serious of offenses — ones that should rankle people of any
political affiliation.
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INFORMATIONAL GRAPHICS
The sat Reading Test has two passages that include one or two graphics
(e.g., tables, graphs, and charts) that convey information related to the
passage content. Students are asked to interpret the information conveyed in
one or more graphics and/or to integrate that information with information
in the text. The following passage excerpt and sample question help
illustrate this concept. See also the complete passage in Appendix B for the
full context in which this skill is measured; additional sample questions
associated with this passage are also found in that appendix.)
[. . .] Putman works in the lab of Ken Lohmann, who has been studying
the magnetic abilities of loggerheads for over 20 years. In his lab at the
University of North Carolina, Lohmann places hatchlings in a large
water tank surrounded by a large grid of electromagnetic coils. In 1991,
he found that the babies started swimming in the opposite direction if
he used the coils to reverse the direction of the magnetic field around
them. They could use the field as a compass to get their bearing. [. . .]
Adapted from Ed Yong, “Turtles Use the Earth’s Magnetic Field as Global GPS.”
©2011 by Kalmbach Publishing Co.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
Adapted from Nathan Putman, Courtney Endres, Catherine Lohmann, and Kenneth Lohmann,
“Longitude Perception and Bicoordinate Magnetic Maps in Sea Turtles.” © 2011 by Elsevier Inc.
A) Northwest
B) Northeast
C) Southeast
D) Southwest
53
T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
TEXT COMPLEXITY
The sat Reading Test includes passages that span a specified range of
text complexity levels from grades 9–10 to postsecondary entry. As
noted in Section II, test development staff make use of feedback from
subject-matter experts at the k–12 and postsecondary levels, student
performance data, and quantitative and qualitative measures of text
complexity to make and refine decisions about the placement of passages
within complexity bands. These steps help ensure that the range of text
difficulties represented on test forms are comparable.
Following are two sample Reading Test passages. Each passage has
been annotated to describe some of the features that make the passage
relatively easier or more complex. The first passage is representative in
many respects of passages at the lower (easier) end of the text complexity
range included in the redesigned sat, while the second passage (also
sampled above) is representative in many respects of passages at the
upper (harder) end. It should be noted that neither passage is uniformly
“easy” or “hard”; as is true for most authentic texts, each passage
contains elements that are easier to comprehend and elements that
are more difficult. Overall, though, as the annotations suggest, the
passages are reasonable exemplars of the two ends of the text complexity
continuum reflected on the redesigned sat’s Reading Test.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
This passage should offer a relatively low reading challenge for college-
and career-ready high school juniors and seniors, although some aspects
of the passage are more challenging than others (as is generally true of
authentic texts).
(1) This passage is adapted from Richard Florida, The Great Reset. (1) Knowledge Demands: Content/
©2010 by Richard Florida. Discipline Knowledge: The passage
assumes little to no prior familiarity
(2) In today’s idea-driven economy, the cost of time is what really with the topic, which reduces the
reading challenge.
matters. With the constant pressure to innovate, it makes little sense
to waste countless collective hours commuting. So, the most efficient
(2) Language Conventionality and
and productive regions are those in which people are thinking and Clarity: The passage generally uses
working—not sitting in traffic. familiar vocabulary and relatively
simple sentence structures. The
(3) The auto-dependent transportation system has reached its limit author’s fairly informal tone also
in most major cities and megaregions. Commuting by car is among helps make the passage more
the least efficient of all our activities—not to mention among the least accessible, further reducing the
enjoyable, according to detailed research by the Nobel Prize–winning reading challenge.
economist Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues. Though one might think
(3) Purpose: The purpose of the
that the economic crisis beginning in 2007 would have reduced traffic passage is straightforward: to describe
(high unemployment means fewer workers traveling to and from work), the degree of and costs associated
the opposite has been true. Average commutes have lengthened, and with the congestion of U.S. cities and
congestion has gotten worse, if anything. (4) The average commute rose city-regions. The passage consistently
in 2008 to 25.5 minutes, “erasing years of decreases to stand at the level builds support to achieve this
of 2000, as people had to leave home earlier in the morning to pick up purpose, which also helps reduce the
friends for their ride to work or to catch a bus or subway train,” according reading challenge.
to the U.S. Census Bureau, which collects the figures. And those are
(4) Knowledge Demands: Content/
average figures. Commutes are far longer in the big West Coast cities of
Discipline Knowledge: The passage’s
Los Angeles and San Francisco and the East Coast cities of New York, references to other texts and sources
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. In many of these cities, of evidence are clearly signaled and
gridlock has become the norm, not just at rush hour but all day, every day. easily grasped, making them fairly
easy to digest.
(5) The costs are astounding. In Los Angeles, congestion eats up more
than 485 million working hours a year; that’s seventy hours, or nearly (5) Structure: The structure of
two weeks, of full-time work per commuter. In D.C., the time cost of the passage is relatively simple.
congestion is sixty-two hours per worker per year. In New York it’s forty- Paragraphs generally are introduced
by topic sentences, focus on a single
four hours. Average it out, and the time cost across America’s thirteen
main idea, and use easily understood
biggest city-regions is fifty-one hours per worker per year. Across the supporting details clearly related
country, commuting wastes 4.2 billion hours of work time annually— to the main idea. These factors
nearly a full workweek for every commuter. The overall cost to the U.S. contribute to the relatively low
economy is nearly $90 billion when lost productivity and wasted fuel are reading challenge of the text.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
taken into account. At the Martin Prosperity Institute, we calculate that (6) Language Conventionality and
every minute shaved off America’s commuting time is worth $19.5 billion Clarity: The passage does introduce
in value added to the economy. The numbers add up fast: five minutes is some abstract and potentially
worth $97.7 billion; ten minutes, $195 billion; fifteen minutes, $292 billion. unfamiliar terms, but the author
provides sufficient context for
understanding them, which reduces
It’s ironic that so many people still believe the main remedy for traffic the reading challenge.
congestion is to build more roads and highways, which of course only
makes the problem worse.
New roads generate higher levels of (6) “induced traffic,” that is, new
roads just invite drivers to drive more and lure people who take mass
transit back to their cars. Eventually, we end up with more clogged roads
rather than a long-term improvement in traffic flow.
The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs,
innovation, and productivity in a smaller number of bigger cities and
city-regions. Some regions could end up bloated beyond the capacity
of their infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise stymied by
inadequate human or other resources.
56
T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
This passage should offer a relatively high reading challenge for college-
and career-ready high school juniors and seniors, although some aspects
of the passage are less challenging than others (as is generally true of
authentic texts).
(1) This passage is adapted from a speech delivered by Congresswoman (1) Purpose: The purpose of the
Barbara Jordan of Texas on July 25, 1974, as a member of the Judiciary passage is relatively straightforward
Committee of the United States House of Representatives. In the (and clarified to some degree in the
passage, Jordan discusses how and when a United States president may passage’s advance organizer): to offer
Jordan’s view of the nature of the
be impeached, or charged with serious offenses, while in office. Jordan’s
impeachment of a U.S. president.
speech was delivered in the context of impeachment hearings against
then president Richard M. Nixon. (2) Structure: The passage is
fairly loose in structure. This adds
(2) Today, I am an inquisitor. (3) An hyperbole would not be fictional to the challenge of following the
and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now. My faith in development of the argument.
the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going
to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the (3) Language Conventionality and
destruction, of the Constitution. Clarity: Jordan uses elevated diction,
uncommon sentence structures, and
potentially unfamiliar vocabulary
(4) “Who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the
here and throughout the passage
representatives of the nation themselves?” “The subjects of its (although context clues are generally
jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of available), which adds to the
public men.”* And that’s what we’re talking about. In other words, [the challenge of the passage.
jurisdiction comes] from the abuse or violation of some public trust.
(4) Knowledge Demands: Content/
It is wrong, I suggest, it is a misreading of the Constitution for any Discipline Knowledge: Jordan
member here to assert that for a member to vote for an article of makes numerous references to
other texts, particularly to the U.S.
impeachment means that that member must be convinced that the
Constitution and other U.S. founding
President should be removed from office. The Constitution doesn’t documents, as she builds her case.
say that. The powers relating to impeachment are an essential check This interspersing of quotations and
in the hands of the body of the legislature against and upon the historical references significantly
encroachments of the executive. The division between the two branches increases the challenge of the passage.
of the legislature, the House and the Senate, assigning to the one the
right to accuse and to the other the right to judge—the framers of this
Constitution were very astute. They did not make the accusers and the
judges . . . the same person.
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T H E R E D E S I G N E D S AT » SECTION III
if he engages in excesses. “It is designed as a method of national inquest (5) Purpose: Although the passage
into the conduct of public men.”* The framers confided in the Congress responds to concrete, real-world
the power, if need be, to remove the President in order to strike a delicate events, Jordan frequently moves
balance between a President swollen with power and grown tyrannical, beyond present-day circumstances to
address principles and other abstract
and preservation of the independence of the executive.
notions. This abstractness adds
appreciably to the reading challenge.
(5) The nature of impeachment: a narrowly channeled exception to
the separation of powers maxim. The Federal Convention of 1787 said
that. It limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors, and
discounted and opposed the term “maladministration.” “It is to be used
only for great misdemeanors,” so it was said in the North Carolina
ratification convention. And in the Virginia ratification convention: “We
do not trust our liberty to a particular branch. We need one branch to
check the other.”
*Jordan quotes from Federalist No. 65, an essay by Alexander Hamilton, published
in 1788, on the powers of the United States Senate, including the power to
decide cases of impeachment against a president of the United States.
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Like the other tests in the battery, the redesigned sat’s Writing and
Language Test is intended to collect evidence in support of a broad claim
about student performance:
TEST DESCRIPTION
The basic aim of the redesigned sat’s Writing and Language Test is to
determine whether students can demonstrate college and career readiness
proficiency in revising and editing a range of texts in a variety of content
areas, both academic and career related, for development, organization,
and effective language use and for conformity to the conventions of
Standard Written English grammar, usage, and punctuation. The
test comprises a series of high-quality multiparagraph passages and
associated multiple-choice questions. Some passages and/or questions
are accompanied by one or more graphical representations of data —
tables, charts, graphs, and the like — and certain questions require
students to make revising and editing decisions about passages in light of
information and ideas conveyed graphically. (Mathematical computation
is, however, not required to answer these questions.)
All passages are written specifically for the test so that errors (a collective
term for various rhetorical or mechanical problems) can be introduced
that students must recognize and correct. The most common question
format requires students to choose the best of three alternatives to
an indicated part of the passage (often an underlined portion) or to
determine that the version presented in the passage is the best option;
other formats, however, are also used. All graphics are either taken from
high-quality, previously published sources or created for the test based on
authentic, accurate data. In their base, “correct” form, passages are well-
written essayistic prose pieces on topics in careers, history/social studies,
the humanities, and science, with the core writing modes of argument,
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The questions associated with the passages place students in the role
of someone revising and editing the work of an unspecified writer.
Students are, by turns, asked to improve the development, organization,
and use of language in the passages and to ensure that the passages
conform to conventions of Standard Written English grammar, usage,
and punctuation. When passages and/or questions are accompanied
by graphics, students are asked to draw connections between text and
graphics — for example, to correct a passage’s inaccurate interpretation
of data presented in a table. Answers to all questions are anchored in
the context of the passages. Neither rote recall of language rules nor
context-free applications of grammar, usage, and mechanics conventions
are tested; moreover, low-level recognition and labeling of errors is
downplayed in favor of asking students to make authentic, context-based
revising and editing decisions.
The range of rhetorical and conventions issues assessed on the sat Writing
and Language Test has been carefully delineated by the test’s blueprint to
ensure that the matters deemed most relevant to future postsecondary
success are emphasized in test questions (see table below). Furthermore,
the Writing and Language Test supports the redesigned sat’s focus on
command of evidence and on relevant words in context by allocating
numerous questions to assessing whether students can develop ideas
effectively (e.g., by adding relevant supporting details or by maintaining or
improving focus and cohesion) and use words carefully and with purpose
(e.g., to improve precision or concision).
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Test Summary
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Key Features
Each feature is illustrated with sample material. Note that only the most
relevant portions of the passages are presented here; actual Writing and
Language Test passages are significantly longer and present passage and
questions in side-by-side columns. (The full passages and additional
sample materials can be found in Appendix B.)
WORDS IN CONTEXT
The sat Writing and Language Test measures students’ ability to apply
knowledge of words, phrases, and language in general in the context of
extended prose passages. The following passage excerpts and sample
questions help illustrate this concept. (See also the complete passages
in Appendix B for the full contexts in which these skills are measured;
additional sample questions associated with these passages can also be
found in that appendix.)
3. A) NO CHANGE
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4. )
A NO CHANGE
B) evacuated
C) departed
D) retired
This question asks students to determine which word makes the most
sense in the context of a sentence from a passage about painter Dong
Kingman. The best answer here is choice C because “departed” is the most
contextually appropriate way to indicate that Kingman had deviated from
the tradition of Chinese landscape painting in a number of ways. Each of
the other choices also conveys a sense of “leaving,” but none is as effective
in the sentence, as it would be both awkward and unconventional to
describe a person as vacating, evacuating, or retiring from a tradition in a
number of ways. In this sort of question, students must demonstrate not
only facility with language in general but also skill in using language in
particular contexts to convey meaning clearly and precisely.
D) internationally, garnering
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COMMAND OF EVIDENCE
The sat Writing and Language Test measures students’ capacity to revise a
text to improve its development of information and ideas. To answer these
questions, students must have a solid grasp of the content of the passage in
question (although it’s important to note that prior knowledge of the topic is
not expected of students). The following passage excerpt and sample question
help illustrate this concept. (See also the complete passage in Appendix B for
the full context in which this skill is measured; additional sample questions
associated with this passage can also be found in that appendix.)
6. W
hich choice most effectively establishes the main topic of the
paragraph?
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INFORMATIONAL GRAPHICS
The sat Writing and Language Test contains one or more passages and/
or questions that include one or more graphics (e.g., tables, graphs, or
charts) that convey information related to the passage content. Students
are asked to consider the information in these graphics as they make
decisions about how and whether to revise a passage. The following
passage excerpt and sample question help illustrate this concept. (See
also the complete passage in Appendix B for the full context in which
this skill is measured; additional sample questions associated with this
passage can also be found in that appendix.)
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Adapted from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections Program.
“All occupations” includes all occupations in the United States economy.
6. W
hich choice completes the sentence with accurate data based on
the graph?
A) NO CHANGE
B) warning, however, that job growth in urban and regional
planning will slow to 14 percent by 2020.
C) predicting that employment of urban and regional planners will
increase 16 percent between 2010 and 2020.
D) indicating that 14 to 18 percent of urban and regional planning
positions will remain unfilled.
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As with the other tests in the battery, the redesigned sat’s Essay is
intended to collect evidence in support of a broad claim about
student performance:
TEST DESCRIPTION
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For the Essay, students are asked to explain how the author of the
accompanying passage builds an argument to persuade an audience.
Students are informed that they may analyze such aspects of the passage as
the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and stylistic and persuasive elements
but that they may also or instead choose other features to analyze; students
are further advised that, in all cases, they should center their discussion on
those aspects that are most salient to the passage in question. Responses are
not to focus on whether students agree or disagree with the claims made in
the passage but rather on how the author builds an argument to persuade
an audience. In broad terms, responses are evaluated for demonstrated
comprehension of the source text, the quality of analysis of that source
text, and the quality of the writing in the response. Students’ responses
should demonstrate such dimensions as a careful understanding of the
passage; effective, selective use of textual evidence to develop and support
points; clear organization and expression of ideas; and a command of the
conventions of Standard Written English. (A fuller list of criteria used to
evaluate student responses is provided below.)
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Test Summary
Prompts 1 100%
Passage Content
Text Complexity
Analytic Scoring
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Key Features
The first two features are illustrated with sample material. (An additional
Essay sample is provided in Appendix B.)
COMMON PROMPT
In the Essay, students are asked to write a cogent and clear response
based on the comprehension and analysis of a source text, supporting
their claims and points about the text with evidence drawn from the
passage. While the source text will be different for each form of the
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sat, the prompt will be largely consistent in format and wording across
administrations, as shown below.
As you read the passage below, consider how [the author] uses
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with [the author’s]
claims, but rather explain how the author builds an argument to
persuade [his/her] audience.
Because the prompt is largely the same from test administration to test
administration, students can prepare by developing the underlying
reading, analysis, and writing skills measured on the exam rather than
trying to anticipate the kind of question that will be asked. Moreover,
because the Essay task is centered on a unique source text disclosed
only on test day, students must engage with the passage rather than rely
on canned, generic responses generated ahead of time. In these ways,
the test encourages meaningful practice aligned with curriculum and
instruction rather than narrow “prep” focused on mastery of an artificial
test format.
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ANALYSIS OF ARGUMENTS
As you read the passage below, consider how Dana Gioia uses
[A] strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past
quarter century. While income rose to unforeseen levels, college
attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously,
the interest young Americans showed in the arts—and especially
literature—actually diminished.
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sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper to the 21st century,
talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic
satisfying narrative.” When asked what kind of talents they like to see
comprehension.
The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere. . . .
scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a
museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social
and cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical
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problems, and it is time to bring literature and the other arts into
discussions of public policy. Libraries, schools, and public agencies
do noble work, but addressing the reading issue will require the
leadership of politicians and the business community as well . . . .
Write an essay in which you explain how Dana Gioia builds an argument
to persuade his audience that the decline of reading in America will have a
negative effect on society. In your essay, analyze how Gioia uses one or more
of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to
strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your
analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Gioia’s claims, but
rather explain how Gioia builds an argument to persuade his audience.
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[A] strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past (1) To highlight the irony and
quarter century. (1) While income rose to unforeseen levels, college gravity of a dwindling percentage
attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously, of readers, the writer juxtaposes the
the interest young Americans showed in the arts—and especially rise in income, college attendance,
and access to college education to the
literature—actually diminished.
decline in young Americans’ interest
in the arts and in literature.
(2) According to the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts,
a population study designed and commissioned by the National (2) The writer cites data
Endowment for the Arts (and executed by the US Bureau of the Census), commissioned by an authoritative
arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of the nine major source (the National Endowment
forms that are measured…. The declines have been most severe among for the Arts) to lend credibility to
younger adults (ages 18–24). The most worrisome finding in the 2002 his subsequent point that there is
study, however, is the declining percentage of Americans, especially a “troubling trend” of “individuals
in a time of crucial intellectual and
young adults, reading literature.
emotional development bypass[ing]
the joys and challenges of literature.”
That individuals at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional
development bypass the joys and challenges of literature is a troubling (3) The writer uses precisely chosen,
trend. If it were true that they substituted histories, biographies, or powerful words to characterize
political works for literature, one might not worry. But book reading of reading as a “longstanding” and
any kind is falling as well. “fundamental cultural” activity that
is “slip[ping] . . . swiftly” among
young adults. This juxtaposition of
That such a (3) longstanding and fundamental cultural activity
words underscores the writer’s claim
should slip so swiftly, especially among young adults, signifies deep
that this development signifies “deep
transformations in contemporary life. To call attention to the trend, the transformations in contemporary
Arts Endowment issued the reading portion of the Survey as a separate life” and thereby creates a compelling
report, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.” appeal to readers’ emotions.
(4) The decline in reading has consequences that go beyond literature. (4) The writer synthesizes multiple
The significance of reading has become a persistent theme in the sources of evidence (e.g., the
business world. The February issue of Wired magazine, for example, previously mentioned arts endowment
survey, Wired magazine) as part of
sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper to the 21st century,
reasoning that concludes that the
aptitudes decidedly literary in character: not “linear, logical, analytical
decrease in reading has implications
talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic outside of literature. The writer then
and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a connects this point to his subsequent
satisfying narrative.” When asked what kind of talents they like to see claim that the skills necessary for life
in management positions, business leaders consistently set imagination, in the 21st century are “decidedly
creativity, and higher-order thinking at the top. literary in character.” He goes on to cite
another authoritative source as further
evidence of the continuing need for
literary achievement.
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Ironically, the value of reading and the intellectual faculties that it (5) The writer provides survey data
inculcates appear most clearly as active and engaged literacy declines. as evidence to support his point in
There is now a growing awareness of the consequences of nonreading the previous paragraph that “the
to the workplace. (5) In 2001 the National Association of Manufacturers significance of reading has become
a persistent theme in the business
polled its members on skill deficiencies among employees. Among
world.” This point and supporting
hourly workers, poor reading skills ranked second, and 38 percent of evidence contribute to the writer’s
employers complained that local schools inadequately taught reading central claim that the decline in
comprehension. reading skills among young adults has
negative long-term consequences.
(6) The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere. . . .
A 2003 study of 15- to 26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National (6) The writer again uses data, this
Conference of State Legislatures concluded, “Young people do not time from a 2003 study, as further
understand the ideals of citizenship. . . and their appreciation and evidence to support his earlier claim
that the decline in reading has far-
support of American democracy is limited.”
reaching consequences. Here, his
evidence links the decline in reading
It is probably no surprise that declining rates of literary reading coincide to deterioration in the civic sphere
with declining levels of historical and political awareness among young and waning “appreciation and
people. (7) One of the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk” was that support of American democracy.”
literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than nonreaders,
scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a (7) By referring to this report again,
museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social this time in the context of discussing
a decline in civic engagement, the
and cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical
writer further supports the point he
knowledge that comes with literary reading. . . .
has just made.
The evidence of literature’s importance to (8) civic, personal, and (8) The writer contrasts “civic,
economic health is too strong to ignore. The decline of literary reading personal, and economic health”
foreshadows serious long-term social and economic problems, and it with “serious long-term social
is time to bring literature and the other arts into discussions of public and economic problems,” which is
policy. Libraries, schools, and public agencies do noble work, but intended to frame a critical choice
addressing the reading issue will require the leadership of politicians and between potentially poor outcomes
and a vital future.
the business community as well. . . .
(9) The writer uses the final sentence
Reading is not a timeless, universal capability. Advanced literacy is a of the passage as an appeal to fear and
specific intellectual skill and social habit that depends on a great many national pride by warning that unless
educational, cultural, and economic factors. (9) As more Americans more emphasis is placed on reading,
lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, active, and the United States will become “less
independent-minded. These are not the qualities that a free, innovative, informed, active, and independent-
or productive society can afford to lose. minded.” These lines serve as an
emotional call to action and raise the
stakes of the argument the writer is
making.
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
The following is a summary of the rubric that raters will use to evaluate
how well students’ essays demonstrate skills in the three dimensions.
The full rubric can be found at collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/
scores/essay.
The Reading dimension encompasses The Analysis dimension encompasses The Writing dimension encompasses
students’ comprehension of a source students’ evaluation of an author’s the cohesiveness of students’ written
text, including the text’s central ideas use of evidence, reasoning, and/or response to the task as well as students’
and important details and how they stylistic and persuasive elements, and/ use of language. Students demonstrate
interrelate. Students demonstrate their or features of the text of the students’ their skill in writing in part by providing
skill in comprehension in part by own choosing. Students demonstrate a precise central claim; creating an
making effective use of evidence their skill in analysis in part by using effective organization and progression
(quotations, paraphrases, or both) from relevant, sufficient, and strategically of ideas; successfully employing a
the source text. chosen support for the claims or points variety of sentence structures; using
they make and by focusing consistently precise word choice; maintaining
on those features of the text that are an appropriate style and tone; and
most relevant to addressing the task. showing command of the conventions
of Standard Written English.
As should be readily apparent from the table and from the discussion in
Section II of the Essay’s evidentiary foundation, these criteria are both
aligned with and supportive of important priorities in rigorous high school
instruction. The clarity and richness of the criteria will also yield important
information about student performance that should be easily understood
and translated into further classroom-based work and support.
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Summary
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PASSAGE
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2. The main rhetorical effect of the series of three phrases in lines 5–6
(“the diminution, the subversion, the destruction”) is to
Choice A is the best answer because the quoted phrases — building from
“diminution” to “subversion” to “destruction” — suggest the increasing
seriousness of the threat Jordan sees to the Constitution.
Choice B is not the best answer because the passage offers no evidence
that the quoted phrases refer to three different events that happened in
a strict sequence. It is more reasonable to infer from the passage that
Jordan sees “diminution,” “subversion,” and “destruction” as differing
degrees to which the Constitution could be undermined. Moreover, the
passage suggests that Jordan sees these three things as products of the
same action or series of actions, not as three distinct stages in a process.
Choice C is not the best answer because the passage offers no evidence that
the quoted phrases refer to three distinct ways in which the Constitution is
prone to failure. It is more reasonable to infer from the passage that Jordan
sees “diminution,” “subversion,” and “destruction” as differing degrees
to which the Constitution could be undermined. Moreover, the passage
suggests that Jordan sees these three things as products of the same action or
series of actions, not as three distinct “ways.”
Choice D is not the best answer because the passage offers no evidence
that the quoted phrases refer to three unique elements of a proposal
to resolve a crisis. It is more reasonable to infer from the passage that
Jordan sees “diminution,” “subversion,” and “destruction” as differing
degrees to which the Constitution could be undermined. Moreover, the
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passage suggests that Jordan sees these three things as products of the
same action or series of actions, not as three distinct “parts.”
A) worn.
B) sent.
C) constrained.
D) siphoned.
Choice C is the best answer because the context makes clear that the
kind of “exception” (line 38) Jordan describes should be narrowly
constrained, or limited. As lines 39–41 indicate, the Federal Convention
of 1787 “limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors, and
discounted and opposed the term ‘maladministration,’” presumably
because the term implied too broad a scope for the exception.
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Choice D is not the best answer because Jordan suggests that she and
her fellow members of Congress are “trying to be big” (line 71), or high-
minded, rather than decide the present case on the basis of politics.
Indeed, throughout the last four paragraphs of the passage (lines 37–72),
she elaborates on the principled, just basis on which impeachment
should proceed. Moreover, throughout the passage Jordan is focused
on the present impeachment hearings, not on the justice or injustice of
impeachments generally.
5. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question?
Choice C is the best answer because in lines 55–58, Jordan draws a contrast
between political motivations and “high crime[s] and misdemeanors” as
the basis for impeachment and argues that impeachment “must proceed
within the confines” of the latter concept. These lines thus serve as the best
evidence for the answer to the previous question.
Choice A is not the best answer because lines 13–17 only address a
misconception that Jordan contends some people have about what a
vote for impeachment means. These lines thus do not serve as the best
evidence for the answer to the previous question.
Choice B is not the best answer because lines 20–24 only speak to a
division of responsibility between the two houses of the U.S. Congress.
These lines thus do not serve as the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question.
Choice D is not the best answer because lines 65–68 serve mainly to
indicate that the U.S. Congress has an extensive and important agenda.
These lines thus do not serve as the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question.
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PASSAGE
content : Science
Questions 1–6 are based on the following passage and Atlantic gyre, a warm current that circles between North
supplementary material. America and Africa. If they’re swept towards the cold
waters outside the gyre, they die. Their magnetic sense
This passage is adapted from Ed Yong, “Turtles Use keeps them safe.
the Earth’s Magnetic Field as Global GPS.” ©2011 by 30 Using his coil-surrounded tank, Lohmann could
Kalmbach Publishing Co. mimic the magnetic field at different parts of the Earth’s
surface. If he simulated the field at the northern edge of
In 1996, a loggerhead turtle called Adelita swam the gyre, the hatchlings swam southwards. If he simulated
across 9,000 miles from Mexico to Japan, crossing the the field at the gyre’s southern edge, the turtles swam
entire Pacific on her way. Wallace J. Nichols tracked this 35 west-northwest. These experiments showed that the
Line epic journey with a satellite tag. But Adelita herself had turtles can use their magnetic sense to work out their
5 no such technology at her disposal. How did she steer a latitude—their position on a north-south axis. Now,
route across two oceans to find her destination? Putman has shown that they can also determine their
Nathan Putman has the answer. By testing hatchling longitude—their position on an east-west axis.
turtles in a special tank, he has found that they can use the 40 He tweaked his magnetic tanks to simulate the fields
Earth’s magnetic field as their own Global Positioning in two positions with the same latitude at opposite ends of
10 System (GPS). By sensing the field, they can work out the Atlantic. If the field simulated the west Atlantic near
both their latitude and longitude and head in the right Puerto Rico, the turtles swam northeast. If the field
direction. matched that on the east Atlantic near the Cape Verde
Putman works in the lab of Ken Lohmann, who has 45 Islands, the turtles swam southwest. In the wild, both
been studying the magnetic abilities of loggerheads for headings would keep them within the safe, warm embrace
15 over 20 years. In his lab at the University of North of the North Atlantic gyre.
Carolina, Lohmann places hatchlings in a large water tank Before now, we knew that several animal migrants,
surrounded by a large grid of electromagnetic coils. In from loggerheads to reed warblers to sparrows, had some
1991, he found that the babies started swimming in the 50 way of working out longitude, but no one knew how. By
opposite direction if he used the coils to reverse the keeping the turtles in the same conditions, with only the
20 direction of the magnetic field around them. They could magnetic fields around them changing, Putman clearly
use the field as a compass to get their bearing. showed that they can use these fields to find their way. In
Later, Lohmann showed that they can also use the the wild, they might well also use other landmarks like
magnetic field to work out their position. For them, this is 55 the position of the sea, sun and stars.
literally a matter of life or death. Hatchlings born off the Putman thinks that the turtles work out their position
25 coast of Florida spend their early lives in the North using two features of the Earth’s magnetic field that
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1. The passage most strongly suggests that Adelita used which of the
following to navigate her 9,000-mile journey?
Choice C is the best answer. The first paragraph describes the 9,000-mile
journey that Adelita made and raises the question, which the rest of the
passage tries to answer, of how this loggerhead turtle was able to “steer a
route across two oceans to find her destination” (lines 5–6). The answer
comes most directly in the last paragraph, which presents Putman’s
belief that loggerhead turtles “work out their position using two features
of the Earth’s magnetic field that change over its surface” (lines 56–58):
its inclination and its intensity. It is reasonable, therefore, to infer from
the passage that this was the method that Adelita used.
Choice B is not the best answer because there is no evidence in the passage
that Adelita navigated her 9,000-mile journey with the aid of cues from
electromagnetic coils designed by Putman and Lohmann. The passage
does say that Putman and Lohmann use electromagnetic coils as part of
their research on loggerhead turtles, but the coils are part of tanks used in
a laboratory to study loggerhead hatchlings (see lines 13–17).
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even could use) the kind of equipment necessary for this project outside
of laboratory tanks or with Adelita in the wild.
2. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the
previous question?
Choice D is the best answer because in lines 64–67, the author indicates
that “together, [inclination and intensity] provide a ‘magnetic signature’
that tells the turtle where it is.” These lines thus serve as the best
evidence for the answer to the previous question.
Choice A is not the best answer because in lines 1–3, the author
establishes that Adelita made a 9,000-mile journey but does not explain
how she navigated it. These lines thus do not serve as the best evidence
for the answer to the previous question.
Choice B is not the best answer because in lines 30–32, the author
indicates that Lohmann is able to “mimic the magnetic field at different
parts of the Earth’s surface” in his laboratory but does not explain how
Adelita navigated her 9,000-mile journey or suggest that Lohmann had
any influence over Adelita’s trip. These lines thus do not serve as the best
evidence for the answer to the previous question.
Choice C is not the best answer because in lines 53–55, the author notes
that loggerhead turtles “in the wild” may make use of “landmarks like the
position of the sea, sun and stars” but does not indicate that Adelita used
such landmarks to navigate her 9,000-mile journey. These lines thus do
not serve as the best evidence for the answer to the previous question.
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A) searched for.
B) traveled over.
C) followed.
D) hunted.
Choice C is the best answer because the context makes clear that Nichols
followed Adelita’s “epic journey with a satellite tag” (line 4).
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Choice B is the best answer. Putman “works in the lab of Ken Lohmann,
who has been studying the magnetic abilities of loggerheads for over 20
years” (lines 13–15). Lohmann had earlier demonstrated that loggerhead
turtles “could use the [magnetic] field as a compass to get their bearing”
(lines 20–21) and “use their magnetic sense to work out their latitude—
their position on a north-south axis” (lines 36–37). Putman has since
(“now,” line 37) built on Lohmann’s work by demonstrating that the
turtles “can also determine their longitude—their position on an east-
west axis” (lines 38–39).
Choice A is not the best answer because the passage does not indicate
that Putman’s research contradicts Lohmann’s. In fact, Putman’s work
complements Lohmann’s. Lohmann had demonstrated that loggerhead
turtles “could use the [magnetic] field as a compass to get their bearing”
(lines 20–21) and “use their magnetic sense to work out their latitude—
their position on a north-south axis” (lines 36–37). Putman has, in turn,
demonstrated that the turtles “can also determine their longitude—their
position on an east-west axis” (lines 38–39).
Choice C is not the best answer because the research of Lohmann that
the passage describes came before that of Putman. Putman “works in
the lab of Ken Lohmann, who has been studying the magnetic abilities
of loggerheads for over 20 years” (lines 13–15). Lohmann had earlier
demonstrated that loggerhead turtles “could use the [magnetic] field as a
compass to get their bearing” (lines 20–21) and “use their magnetic sense
to work out their latitude—their position on a north-south axis” (lines
36–37). Putman has since (“now,” line 37) built on Lohmann’s work by
demonstrating that the turtles “can also determine their longitude—their
position on an east-west axis” (lines 38–39).
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Choice D is not the best answer because the passage does not indicate
that Lohmann’s research corrects Putman’s. First, the research of
Lohmann that the passage describes came before that of Putman (see
explanation for choice C) and thus could not “correct” Putman’s later
research. Second, the passage does not indicate that Putman’s research
contradicts Lohmann’s (see explanation for choice A), meaning that
there is nothing for Lohmann to “correct” with his own research.
5. The author refers to reed warblers and sparrows (line 49) primarily to
Choice B is the best answer because the author indicates that reed
warblers and sparrows, like loggerhead turtles, had previously been
known to have “some way of working out longitude” (lines 49–50).
Choice A is not the best answer because although the author notes that
loggerhead turtles, reed warblers, and sparrows are all “animal migrants”
(line 48), he offers no specifics about reed warblers’ and sparrows’
migration patterns, and the only connection he draws among the three
animals is their recognized ability of somehow “working out longitude”
(line 50).
Choice C is not the best answer because the author only mentions three
“animal migrants” by name (loggerhead turtles, reed warblers, and
sparrows) and indicates that “several” such migrants had previously
been known to have “some way of working out longitude” (lines 48–50).
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He makes no claim in the passage that most animal species have some
long-distance navigation ability.
Choice D is not the best answer because although the author indicates
that reed warblers and sparrows, like loggerhead turtles, are “animal
migrants” (line 48), he offers no specifics about how the ability to
navigate long distances might help reed warblers and sparrows (nor,
for that matter, much information about how this ability might help
loggerhead turtles).
A) Northwest
B) Northeast
C) Southeast
D) Southwest
Choice B is the best answer. The passage notes that Lohmann, who
studied loggerhead turtle hatchlings “in a large water tank surrounded
by a large grid of electromagnetic coils” (lines 16–17) capable of
manipulating the magnetic field around the turtles, discovered that
the hatchlings would start “swimming in the opposite direction” when
he “reverse[d] the direction of the magnetic field around them” (lines
18–20). The graphic (whose caption establishes that geographic north is
represented by 0 degrees) indicates that loggerhead hatchlings tested in
a magnetic field that simulates a position at the east side of the Atlantic
near the Cape Verde Islands would normally travel in a southwesterly
direction (around 218 degrees). Given the above information, it is
reasonable to infer that if the magnetic field were reversed, the turtles
would travel in a northeasterly direction.
Choice A is not the best answer because information in the passage and
graphic suggests that the loggerhead turtle hatchlings would travel in a
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Choice C is not the best answer because information in the passage and
graphic suggests that the loggerhead turtle hatchlings would travel in a
northeasterly, and not a southeasterly, direction if scientists reversed the
magnetic field simulating a position at the east side of the Atlantic near
the Cape Verde Islands.
Choice D is not the best answer because information in the passage and
graphic suggests that the loggerhead turtle hatchlings would travel in a
northeasterly, and not a southwesterly, direction if scientists reversed the
magnetic field simulating a position at the east side of the Atlantic near
the Cape Verde Islands. The graphic indicates that the hatchlings travel
southwesterly under the normal (nonreversed) simulated conditions.
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PASSAGE
Questions 1-3 are based on the following passage and has become the norm, not just at rush hour but all day,
supplementary material. every day.
30 The costs are astounding. In Los Angeles, congestion
This passage is adapted from Richard Florida, The eats up more than 485 million working hours a year;
Great Reset. ©2010 by Richard Florida. that’s seventy hours, or nearly two weeks, of full-time
work per commuter. In D.C., the time cost of congestion
In today’s idea-driven economy, the cost of time is is sixty-two hours per worker per year. In New York it’s
what really matters. With the constant pressure to 35 forty-four hours. Average it out, and the time cost across
innovate, it makes little sense to waste countless America’s thirteen biggest city-regions is fifty-one hours
Line collective hours commuting. So, the most efficient and per worker per year. Across the country, commuting
5 productive regions are those in which people are wastes 4.2 billion hours of work time annually—nearly a
thinking and working—not sitting in traffic. full workweek for every commuter. The overall cost to
The auto-dependent transportation system has 40 the U.S. economy is nearly $90 billion when lost
reached its limit in most major cities and megaregions. productivity and wasted fuel are taken into account. At
Commuting by car is among the least efficient of all our the Martin Prosperity Institute, we calculate that every
10 activities—not to mention among the least enjoyable, minute shaved off America’s commuting time is worth
according to detailed research by the Nobel Prize– $19.5 billion in value added to the economy. The numbers
winning economist Daniel Kahneman and his 45 add up fast: five minutes is worth $97.7 billion; ten
colleagues. Though one might think that the economic minutes, $195 billion; fifteen minutes, $292 billion.
crisis beginning in 2007 would have reduced traffic (high It’s ironic that so many people still believe the main
15 unemployment means fewer workers traveling to and remedy for traffic congestion is to build more roads and
from work), the opposite has been true. Average highways, which of course only makes the problem
commutes have lengthened, and congestion has gotten 50 worse. New roads generate higher levels of “induced
worse, if anything. The average commute rose in 2008 to traffic,” that is, new roads just invite drivers to drive
25.5 minutes, “erasing years of decreases to stand at the more and lure people who take mass transit back to their
20 level of 2000, as people had to leave home earlier in the cars. Eventually, we end up with more clogged roads
morning to pick up friends for their ride to work or to rather than a long-term improvement in traffic flow.
catch a bus or subway train,” according to the U.S. 55 The coming decades will likely see more intense
Census Bureau, which collects the figures. And those are clustering of jobs, innovation, and productivity in a
average figures. Commutes are far longer in the big West smaller number of bigger cities and city-regions. Some
25 Coast cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco and the regions could end up bloated beyond the capacity of their
East Coast cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise
and Washington, D.C. In many of these cities, gridlock 60 stymied by inadequate human or other resources.
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Choice B is the best answer because details in the third paragraph (lines
30–46) strongly suggest that researchers (“we”) at the Martin Prosperity
Institute assume that shorter commutes will lead to more productive
time for workers. The author notes that “across the country, commuting
wastes 4.2 billion hours of work time annually” and that “the overall
cost to the U.S. economy is nearly $90 billion when lost productivity
and wasted fuel are taken into account” (lines 37–41). Given also that
those at the institute “calculate that every minute shaved off America’s
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A) emotional.
B) concentrated.
C) brilliant.
D) determined.
Choice B is the best answer because the context makes clear that
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Choice C is the best answer. Higher bars on the graph represent longer
annual commute delays than do lower bars; moreover, the number of
hours of annual commute delay generally decreases as one moves from
left to right on the graph. The bar for Washington, D.C. is higher than
and to the left of that for New York City, meaning that D.C. automobile
commuters experience greater amounts of delay each year.
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Choice A is not the best answer because the graph’s bar for New York
City is higher than and to the left of that for the average for very large
cities, meaning that New York City automobile commuters experience
greater, not lesser, amounts of delay each year.
Choice B is not the best answer because the graph’s bar for Los Angeles
is lower than and to the right of that for Washington, D.C., meaning
that Los Angeles automobile commuters experience lesser, not greater,
amounts of delay each year.
Choice D is not the best answer because the graph’s bar for Detroit is
lower than and to the right of those for Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago,
meaning that Detroit automobile commuters experience lesser, not
greater, amounts of delay each year.
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This passage should offer a relatively low reading challenge for college-
and career-ready high school juniors and seniors, although some aspects
of the passage are more challenging than others (as is generally true of
authentic texts).
(1) This passage is adapted from Richard Florida, The Great Reset. (1) Knowledge Demands: Content/
©2010 by Richard Florida. Discipline Knowledge: The passage
assumes little to no prior familiarity
(2) In today’s idea-driven economy, the cost of time is what really with the topic, which reduces the
reading challenge.
matters. With the constant pressure to innovate, it makes little sense
to waste countless collective hours commuting. So, the most efficient
(2) Language Conventionality and
and productive regions are those in which people are thinking and Clarity: The passage generally uses
working—not sitting in traffic. familiar vocabulary and relatively
simple sentence structures. The
(3) The auto-dependent transportation system has reached its limit in author’s fairly informal tone also
most major cities and megaregions. Commuting by car is among the least helps make the passage more
efficient of all our activities—not to mention among the least enjoyable, accessible, further reducing the
according to detailed research by the Nobel Prize–winning economist reading challenge.
Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues. Though one might think that the
(3) Purpose: The purpose of the
economic crisis beginning in 2007 would have reduced traffic (high passage is straightforward: to describe
unemployment means fewer workers traveling to and from work), the degree of and costs associated
the opposite has been true. Average commutes have lengthened, and with the congestion of U.S. cities and
congestion has gotten worse, if anything. (4) The average commute rose city-regions. The passage consistently
in 2008 to 25.5 minutes, “erasing years of decreases to stand at the level builds support to achieve this
of 2000, as people had to leave home earlier in the morning to pick up purpose, which also helps reduce the
friends for their ride to work or to catch a bus or subway train,” according reading challenge.
to the U.S. Census Bureau, which collects the figures. And those are
(4) Knowledge Demands: Content/
average figures. Commutes are far longer in the big West Coast cities of
Discipline Knowledge: The passage’s
Los Angeles and San Francisco and the East Coast cities of New York, references to other texts and sources
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. In many of these cities, of evidence are clearly signaled and
gridlock has become the norm, not just at rush hour but all day, every day. easily grasped, making them fairly
easy to digest.
(5) The costs are astounding. In Los Angeles, congestion eats up more
than 485 million working hours a year; that’s seventy hours, or nearly (5) Structure: The structure of
two weeks, of full-time work per commuter. In D.C., the time cost of the passage is relatively simple.
congestion is sixty-two hours per worker per year. In New York it’s forty- Paragraphs generally are introduced
by topic sentences, focus on a single
four hours. Average it out, and the time cost across America’s thirteen
main idea, and use easily understood
biggest city-regions is fifty-one hours per worker per year. Across the supporting details clearly related
country, commuting wastes 4.2 billion hours of work time annually— to the main idea. These factors
nearly a full workweek for every commuter. The overall cost to the U.S. contribute to the relatively low reading
economy is nearly $90 billion when lost productivity and wasted fuel are challenge of the text.
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taken into account. At the Martin Prosperity Institute, we calculate that (6) Language Conventionality and
every minute shaved off America’s commuting time is worth $19.5 billion Clarity: The passage does introduce
in value added to the economy. The numbers add up fast: five minutes is some abstract and potentially
worth $97.7 billion; ten minutes, $195 billion; fifteen minutes, $292 billion. unfamiliar terms, but the author
provides sufficient context for
understanding them, which reduces
It’s ironic that so many people still believe the main remedy for traffic the reading challenge.
congestion is to build more roads and highways, which of course
only makes the problem worse. New roads generate higher levels of
(6) “induced traffic,” that is, new roads just invite drivers to drive more
and lure people who take mass transit back to their cars. Eventually, we
end up with more clogged roads rather than a long-term improvement
in traffic flow.
The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs,
innovation, and productivity in a smaller number of bigger cities and
city-regions. Some regions could end up bloated beyond the capacity
of their infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise stymied by
inadequate human or other resources.
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This passage should offer a relatively high reading challenge for college-
and career-ready high school juniors and seniors, although some aspects
of the passage are less challenging than others (as is generally true of
authentic texts).
(1) This passage is adapted from a speech delivered by Congresswoman (1) Purpose: The purpose of the
Barbara Jordan of Texas on July 25, 1974, as a member of the Judiciary passage is relatively straightforward
Committee of the United States House of Representatives. In the (and clarified to some degree in the
passage, Jordan discusses how and when a United States president may passage’s advance organizer): to offer
Jordan’s view of the nature of the
be impeached, or charged with serious offenses, while in office. Jordan’s
impeachment of a U.S. president.
speech was delivered in the context of impeachment hearings against
then president Richard M. Nixon. (2) Structure: The passage is
fairly loose in structure. This adds
(2) Today, I am an inquisitor. (3) An hyperbole would not be fictional to the challenge of following the
and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now. My faith in development of the argument.
the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going
to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the (3) Language Conventionality and
destruction, of the Constitution. Clarity: Jordan uses elevated diction,
uncommon sentence structures, and
potentially unfamiliar vocabulary
(4) “Who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the here and throughout the passage
representatives of the nation themselves?” “The subjects of its (although context clues are generally
jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of available), which adds to the
public men.”* And that’s what we’re talking about. In other words, [the challenge of the passage.
jurisdiction comes] from the abuse or violation of some public trust.
(4) Knowledge Demands: Content/
It is wrong, I suggest, it is a misreading of the Constitution for any Discipline Knowledge: Jordan
makes numerous references to
member here to assert that for a member to vote for an article of
other texts, particularly to the U.S.
impeachment means that that member must be convinced that the
Constitution and other U.S. founding
President should be removed from office. The Constitution doesn’t documents, as she builds her case.
say that. The powers relating to impeachment are an essential check This interspersing of quotations and
in the hands of the body of the legislature against and upon the historical references significantly
encroachments of the executive. The division between the two branches increases the challenge of the passage.
of the legislature, the House and the Senate, assigning to the one the
right to accuse and to the other the right to judge—the framers of this
Constitution were very astute. They did not make the accusers and the
judges . . . the same person.
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if he engages in excesses. “It is designed as a method of national inquest (5) Purpose: Although the passage
into the conduct of public men.”* The framers confided in the Congress responds to concrete, real-world
the power, if need be, to remove the President in order to strike a delicate events, Jordan frequently moves
beyond present-day circumstances to
balance between a President swollen with power and grown tyrannical,
address principles and other abstract
and preservation of the independence of the executive.
notions. This abstractness adds
appreciably to the reading challenge.
(5) The nature of impeachment: a narrowly channeled exception to
the separation of powers maxim. The Federal Convention of 1787 said
that. It limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors, and
discounted and opposed the term “maladministration.” “It is to be used
only for great misdemeanors,” so it was said in the North Carolina
ratification convention. And in the Virginia ratification convention:
“We do not trust our liberty to a particular branch. We need one branch
to check the other.”
*Jordan quotes from Federalist No. 65, an essay by Alexander Hamilton, published in 1788, on
the powers of the United States Senate, including the power to decide cases of impeachment
against a president of the United States.
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PASSAGE
content : Humanities
focus : Students must make revising and editing decisions in the
context of a passage on a topic in the humanities.
name.” [3] His interest was so keen, in fact, that he was named after it.
D) artists
[4] The young boy who had been called Dong Moy Shu became Dong
Kingman. [5] The name Kingman was selected for its two parts, 4. A) NO CHANGE
“king” and “man”; Cantonese for “scenery” and “composition.” [6] B) evacuated
As Kingman developed as a painter, his works were often compared C) departed
to paintings by Chinese landscape artists dating back to CE 960, a D) retired
time when a strong tradition of landscape painting emerged in Chinese
5. For the sake of the cohesion of
art. [7] Kingman, however, vacated from that tradition in a number of this paragraph, sentence 3 should
ways, most notably in that he chose to focus not on natural landscapes, be placed
such as mountains and rivers, but on cities. 5
A) where it is now.
B) before sentence 1.
C) after sentence 1.
D) after sentence 4.
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6 His fine brushwork conveys detailed street-level activity: a 6. Which choice most effectively
peanut vendor pushing his cart on the sidewalk, a pigeon pecking for establishes the main topic of the
paragraph?
crumbs around a fire hydrant, an old man tending to a baby outside a
doorway. His broader brushstrokes and sponge-painted shapes create
A) Kingman is considered a
majestic city skylines, with skyscrapers towering in the background, pioneer of the California
bridges connecting neighborhoods on either side of a river, and Style school of painting.
enormous ships maneuvering out of a busy harbor. To art critics and B) Although cities were his
fans alike, these city scenes represent the innovative spirit of twentieth- main subject, Kingman did
century urban Modernism. occasionally paint natural
landscapes.
C) In his urban landscapes,
During his career, Kingman exhibited his work internationally. He
Kingman captures the
garnered much acclaim. In 1936, a critic described one of Kingman’s solo
vibrancy of crowded cities.
exhibits as “twenty of the freshest, most satisfying watercolors that have D) In 1929 Kingman moved to
been seen hereabouts in many a day.” Since Kingman’s death in 2000, Oakland, California, where
museums across the United States and in China have continued to ensure he attended the Fox Art
that his now-iconic landscapes remain available for the public to enjoy. School.
A) internationally, and
Kingman also garnered
B) internationally; from
exhibiting, he garnered
C) internationally but garnered
D) internationally, garnering
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Question 1
Question 2
Choice B is the best answer because the colon after “parts” effectively
signals that what follows in the sentence further defines what the “two
parts” of Kingman’s name are and because the comma after “man”
properly indicates that “‘king’ and ‘man’” and “Cantonese for ‘scenery’
and ‘composition’” are nonrestrictive appositives.
Choice A is not the best answer because the semicolon after “man”
incorrectly joins an independent clause and a phrase. Moreover, the
comma after “parts” is arguably a weak form of punctuation to be
signaling the strong break in the sentence indicated here.
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Choice C is not the best answer because the semicolon after “man”
incorrectly joins an independent clause and a phrase and because the
absence of a comma after “parts” fails to indicate that “two parts” and
“‘king’ and ‘man’” are nonrestrictive appositives.
Choice D is not the best answer because the semicolon after “parts”
incorrectly joins an independent clause and phrases and because the
absence of a comma after “man” fails to indicate that “‘king’ and ‘man’” and
“Cantonese for ‘scenery’ and ‘composition’” are nonrestrictive appositives.
Question 3
Question 4
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Choice A is not the best answer because while “vacated” does offer some
sense of “leaving,” it would be awkward and unconventional to say that a
person was vacating from a tradition in a number of ways.
Choice B is not the best answer because while “evacuated” does offer
some sense of “leaving,” it would be awkward and unconventional to say
that a person was evacuating from a tradition in a number of ways.
Choice D is not the best answer because while “retired” does offer some
sense of “leaving,” it would be awkward and unconventional to say that a
person was retiring from a tradition in a number of ways.
Question 5
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name Dong Kingman) and sentence 5 (which explains what the two
parts comprising the name Kingman mean in Cantonese).
Question 6
Choice C is the best answer because it clearly establishes the main topic
of the paragraph: Kingman’s urban landscapes.
Choice A is not the best answer because it would begin the paragraph
with a loosely related detail about Kingman’s painting style and would
not clearly establish the main topic of the paragraph.
Choice B is not the best answer because it would suggest that the main
topic of the paragraph is the natural landscapes Kingman occasionally
painted, which is incorrect given the focus of the rest of the sentences in
the paragraph.
Choice D is not the best answer because it would begin the paragraph
with a loosely related detail about Kingman’s life and would not clearly
establish the main topic of the paragraph.
Question 7
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Choice A is not the best answer because it creates a wordy and awkward
construction and because it fails to link the acclaim Kingman received
with the exhibition of his work.
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PASSAGE
content : Careers
focus : Students must make revising and editing decisions in the
context of a passage on a careers-related topic.
A Life in Traffic
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Adapted from United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections Program.
“All occupations” includes all occupations in the United States economy.
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Question 1
Choice A is not the best answer because the plural verb “occur” does not
agree with the singular subject “any one.”
Choice B is not the best answer because the plural verb “occur” does not
agree with the singular subject “any one” and because the plural pronoun
“they” does not agree with the singular antecedent “any one.”
Choice C is not the best answer because the plural pronoun “they” does
not agree with the singular antecedent “any one.”
Question 2
Choice A is not the best answer because “they design” does not maintain
parallelism with “evaluating,” “assessing,” and “improving.”
Choice B is not the best answer because “to design” does not maintain
parallelism with “evaluating,” “assessing,” and “improving.”
Choice D is not the best answer because “design” does not maintain
parallelism with “evaluating,” “assessing,” and “improving.”
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Question 3
Choice D is the best answer because it offers a clear and concise wording
without redundancy.
Choice A is not the best answer because “current” is redundant with “at
this time.”
Question 4
Choice A is not the best answer because the transitional word “Next”
indicates sequence, which is not logical given that what follows provides
an example related to the previous sentence.
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Question 5
Choice B is not the best answer because it incorrectly sets off the
restrictive clause “who pursue careers in transportation planning” with
commas as though the clause were nonrestrictive, or not essential to
defining who the “people” are.
Choice C is not the best answer because it incorrectly sets off the
essential sentence element “in transportation planning” with commas
as though the phrase were not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
“In transportation planning” is essential information defining what the
“careers” are.
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Question 6
Choice A is not the best answer because the data in the graph do not
support the claim that 16 percent of new jobs in all occupations will be
related to urban and regional planning.
Choice B is not the best answer because the data in the graph do not
support the claim that job growth in urban and regional planning will
slow to 14 percent by 2020.
Choice D is not the best answer because the data in the graph do not
support the claim that 14 to 18 percent of urban and regional planning
positions will remain unfilled.
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As you read the passage below, consider how Paul Bogard uses
Adapted from Paul Bogard, “Let There Be Dark.” ©2012 by the Los Angeles
Times. Originally published December 21, 2012.
All life evolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights.
Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly
for a light switch. And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial
light at night, spells trouble for all.
Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night shift
as a probable human carcinogen, and the American Medical Association
has voiced its unanimous support for “light pollution reduction efforts
and glare reduction efforts at both the national and state levels.” Our
bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps
certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep.
Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular
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disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of
“short sleep” is “long light.” Whether we work at night or simply take our
tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn’t a place for this
much artificial light in our lives.
Yet all over the world, our nights are growing brighter. In the United
States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an
average of about 6% every year. Computer images of the United States
at night, based on NASA photographs, show that what was a very dark
country as recently as the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of
light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars.
Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have
known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky to
spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our ability
to solve, using new lighting technologies and shielding existing lights.
Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe are
changing to LED streetlights, which offer dramatic possibilities for
controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success with
simply turning off portions of their public lighting after midnight. Even
Paris, the famed “city of light,” which already turns off its monument
lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its shops, offices
and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Though primarily
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Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Bogard’s
claims, but rather explain how Bogard builds an argument to persuade
his audience.
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Adapted from Paul Bogard, “Let There Be Dark.” ©2012 by the Los Angeles
Times. Originally published December 21, 2012.
At my family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that (1) The descriptive words used in this
my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in (1) which sentence add visual intensity, evoking
meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when the wonder of the night sky.
(2) 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark (2) The writer uses this statistic as
enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night’s natural evidence to inform his subsequent
darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the claim that we “are rapidly losing
days’ gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the night’s natural darkness.”
irreplaceable value of darkness.
(3) Providing evidence from
authoritative sources (the World
All life evolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Health Organization and the
Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly American Medical Association) adds
for a light switch. And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial legitimacy to the writer’s claim in
light at night, spells trouble for all. the paragraph above that “too little
darkness . . . spells trouble for all.”
(3) Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night
(4) The writer continues to draw
shift as a probable human carcinogen, and the American Medical on evidence from the authorities
Association has voiced its unanimous support for “light pollution cited above. He uses this evidence
reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts at both the national and to inform his subsequent point
state levels.” (4) Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone that “whether we work at night or
melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies simply take our . . . smartphones to
need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, bed, there isn’t a place for this much
obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research artificial light in our lives.”
suggests one main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.” Whether we (5) The presentation of facts and
work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to evidence supports the claim that
bed, there isn’t a place for this much artificial light in our lives. follows at the end of the paragraph
that “without darkness, Earth’s
The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, (5) including ecology would collapse.”
nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and (6) The writer compares light
reptiles. Some examples are well known—the 400 species of birds that pollution to the effects of a
migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to “bulldozer,” a machine that can be
lay their eggs—and some are not, such as the bats that save American used to ravage land. This imagery
farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the dramatizes the destructive potential
world’s flora. Ecological light pollution is like the (6) bulldozer of the of light pollution.
night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years (7) By first discussing the human
in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would need for darkness and then moving
collapse. . . . (7) into a discussion of the need for
darkness among animals, the writer is
able to build his argument about the
“irreplaceable value of darkness.”
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In today’s (8) crowded, louder, more fast-paced world, night’s darkness (8) The writer makes a stylistic choice
can provide solitude, quiet and stillness, qualities increasingly in short here, contrasting a “crowded, louder,
supply. Every religious tradition has considered darkness invaluable for more fast-paced world” with darkness
a soulful life, and the chance to witness the universe has inspired artists, that “can provide solitude, quiet and
stillness.” These words allow the
philosophers and everyday stargazers since time began. (9) In a world
writer to characterize a well-lit world
awash with electric light . . . how would Van Gogh have given the world as undesirable and to depict darkness
his “Starry Night”? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might as peaceful and pleasing.
inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?
(9) The use of rhetorical questions
Yet all over the world, our nights are growing brighter. (10) In the United encourages the reader to consider a
States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an world without Van Gogh’s beloved
average of about 6% every year. Computer images of the United States painting and what Van Gogh’s vision
at night, based on NASA photographs, show that what was a very dark inspires in us all. The suggestion of a
world without such artistry and the
country as recently as the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of
notion that darkness is “invaluable for
light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars. a soulful life” are also designed to evoke
(11) Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have an emotional reaction in the reader.
known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky to
spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish. (10) This statistic is used as evidence
to support the claim that “our nights
(12) It doesn’t have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our are growing brighter,” which leads
ability to solve, using new lighting technologies and shielding existing into the writer’s point that this
“blanket of light” is largely “wasted
lights. Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe
energy, which means wasted dollars.”
are changing to LED streetlights, (13) which offer dramatic possibilities
for controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success (11) By returning to the introduction’s
with simply turning off portions of their public lighting after midnight. description of a youth spent admiring
(14) Even Paris, the famed “city of light,” which already turns off its dark nights, the writer creates another
monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its emotional appeal — this one to fear,
shops, offices and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Though especially in readers under thirty-five
primarily designed to save energy, such reductions in light will also go years old, who may now realize that
far in addressing light pollution. (15) But we will never truly address the their opportunities to witness true
darkness are “diminishing.”
problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable
value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.
(12) The writer moves from evoking
fear to reassuring readers that there
is a solution to the problem of light
pollution.
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As you read the passage below, consider how Dana Gioia uses
[A] strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past
quarter century. While income rose to unforeseen levels, college
attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously,
the interest young Americans showed in the arts—and especially
literature—actually diminished.
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sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper to the 21st century,
talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic
satisfying narrative.” When asked what kind of talents they like to see
comprehension.
The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere. . . .
scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a
museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social
and cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical
is time to bring literature and the other arts into discussions of public
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Write an essay in which you explain how Dana Gioia builds an argument
to persuade his audience that the decline of reading in America will have
a negative effect on society. In your essay, analyze how Gioia uses one
or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own
choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be
sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with Gioia’s claims, but
rather explain how Gioia builds an argument to persuade his audience.
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Adapted from “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia. ©2005 by (1) To highlight the irony and gravity
The New York Times Company. Originally published April 10, 2005. of a dwindling percentage of readers,
the writer juxtaposes the rise in
[A] strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past income, college attendance, and
access to college education to the
quarter century. (1) While income rose to unforeseen levels, college
decline in young Americans’ interest
attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously, in the arts and in literature.
the interest young Americans showed in the arts—and especially
literature—actually diminished. (2) The writer cites data
commissioned by an authoritative
(2) According to the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, source (the National Endowment
a population study designed and commissioned by the National for the Arts) to lend credibility to
Endowment for the Arts (and executed by the US Bureau of the Census), his subsequent point that there is
arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of the nine major a “troubling trend” of “individuals
in a time of crucial intellectual and
forms that are measured. . . . The declines have been most severe among
emotional development bypass[ing]
younger adults (ages 18–24). The most worrisome finding in the 2002 the joys and challenges of literature.”
study, however, is the declining percentage of Americans, especially
young adults, reading literature. (3) The writer uses precisely chosen,
powerful words to characterize
That individuals at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional reading as a “longstanding” and
development bypass the joys and challenges of literature is a troubling “fundamental cultural” activity that
trend. If it were true that they substituted histories, biographies, or is “slip[ping] . . . swiftly” among
young adults. This juxtaposition of
political works for literature, one might not worry. But book reading of
words underscores the writer’s claim
any kind is falling as well.
that this development signifies “deep
transformations in contemporary
That such a (3) longstanding and fundamental cultural activity life” and thereby creates a compelling
should slip so swiftly, especially among young adults, signifies deep appeal to readers’ emotions.
transformations in contemporary life. To call attention to the trend, the
Arts Endowment issued the reading portion of the Survey as a separate (4) The writer synthesizes
report, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.” multiple sources of evidence (e.g.,
the previously mentioned arts
endowment survey, Wired magazine)
(4) The decline in reading has consequences that go beyond literature.
as part of reasoning that concludes
The significance of reading has become a persistent theme in the
that the decrease in reading has
business world. The February issue of Wired magazine, for example, implications outside of literature. The
sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper to the 21st century, writer then connects this point to
aptitudes decidedly literary in character: not “linear, logical, analytical his subsequent claim that the skills
talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic necessary for life in the twenty-first
and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a century are “decidedly literary in
satisfying narrative.” When asked what kind of talents they like to see character.” He goes on to cite another
authoritative source as further
in management positions, business leaders consistently set imagination,
evidence of the continuing need for
creativity, and higher-order thinking at the top.
literary achievement.
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Ironically, the value of reading and the intellectual faculties that (5) The writer provides survey data
it inculcates appear most clearly as active and engaged literacy as evidence to support his point in
declines. There is now a growing awareness of the consequences of the previous paragraph that “the
nonreading to the workplace. (5) In 2001 the National Association significance of reading has become
a persistent theme in the business
of Manufacturers polled its members on skill deficiencies among
world.” This point and supporting
employees. Among hourly workers, poor reading skills ranked evidence contribute to the writer’s
second, and 38 percent of employers complained that local schools central claim that the decline in
inadequately taught reading comprehension. reading skills among young adults has
negative long-term consequences.
(6) The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere. . . .
A 2003 study of 15- to 26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National (6) The writer again uses data, this
Conference of State Legislatures concluded, “Young people do not time from a 2003 study, as further
evidence to support his earlier claim
understand the ideals of citizenship. . . and their appreciation and
that the decline in reading has far-
support of American democracy is limited.”
reaching consequences. Here, his
evidence links the decline in reading
It is probably no surprise that declining rates of literary reading to deterioration in the civic sphere
coincide with declining levels of historical and political awareness and waning “appreciation and
among young people. (7) One of the surprising findings of “Reading support of American democracy.”
at Risk” was that literary readers are markedly more civically
engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to (7) By referring to this report again,
perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event. this time in the context of discussing
a decline in civic engagement, the
One reason for their higher social and cultural interactions may lie
writer further supports the point he
in the kind of civic and historical knowledge that comes with literary
has just made.
reading. . . .
(8) The writer contrasts “civic,
The evidence of literature’s importance to (8) civic, personal, and personal, and economic health”
economic health is too strong to ignore. The decline of literary with “serious long-term social
reading foreshadows serious long-term social and economic and economic problems,” which is
problems, and it is time to bring literature and the other arts into intended to frame a critical choice
discussions of public policy. Libraries, schools, and public agencies between potentially poor outcomes
and a vital future.
do noble work, but addressing the reading issue will require the
leadership of politicians and the business community as well….
(9) The writer uses the final sentences
of the passage as an appeal to fear and
Reading is not a timeless, universal capability. Advanced literacy is national pride by warning that unless
a specific intellectual skill and social habit that depends on a great more emphasis is placed on reading,
many educational, cultural, and economic factors. (9) As more the United States will become “less
Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, informed, active, and independent-
active, and independent-minded. These are not the qualities that a minded.” These lines serve as an
free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose. emotional call to action and raise the
stakes of the argument the writer is
making.
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Executive Summary
The sample questions provided in this document are meant to illustrate the shifts
in the redesigned SAT and are not a full reflection of what will be tested. Actual
questions used on the exam are going through extensive reviews and pretesting to
help ensure that they are clear and fair and that they measure what is intended.
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A Transparent Blueprint
This section describes the content, format, and distinctive new features
of the Math Test in the redesigned sat, as well as the skills it measures.
This section also includes annotated sample questions that help illustrate
central aspects of the test.
TEST DESCRIPTION
» Heart of Algebra
» Problem Solving and Data Analysis
» Passport to Advanced Math
» Additional Topics in Math
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Questions in each content area span the full range of difficulty and
address relevant practices, fluency, and conceptual understanding.
Test Summary
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*Questions under Additional Topics in Math contribute to the total Math Test score but do not contribute to a subscore within the Math Test.
As indicated in the test specifications above, the Math Test has two
portions. One is a 55-minute portion comprising 38 questions for which
students are allowed to use calculators to solve the problems. The other
is a 25-minute portion comprising 20 questions for which students are
not allowed to use calculators to solve the problems. The blueprint for
each of these portions is shown below.
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CALCULATOR PORTION
Number of Questions % of Test
NO-CALCULATOR PORTION
Number of Questions % of Test
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The sat has been redesigned to better align to what research shows
students need to know and be able to do in order to be prepared for
college and careers. This goal has led to a more focused sat with a
balance across fluency, conceptual understanding, and application.
In these and other ways, such as embedding mathematical practices,
the redesigned sat is also a good reflection of college- and
career-ready standards.
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Linear equations in 1. Create and use linear equations in one variable to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
one variable 2. Create a linear equation in one variable, and when in context interpret solutions in terms of the
context.
3. Solve a linear equation in one variable, making strategic use of algebraic structure.
4. For a linear equation in one variable,
a. interpret a constant, variable, factor, or term in a context;
b. determine the conditions under which the equation has no solution, a unique solution,
or infinitely many solutions.
5. Fluently solve a linear equation in one variable.
Linear functions Algebraically, a linear function can be defined by a linear expression in one variable or by a linear
equation in two variables. In the first case, the variable is the input and the value of the expression is
the output. In the second case, one of the variables is designated as the input and determines a unique
value of the other variable, which is the output.
1. Create and use linear functions to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
2. Create a linear function to model a relationship between two quantities.
3. For a linear function that represents a context,
a. interpret the meaning of an input/output pair, constant, variable, factor, or term based on the
context, including situations where seeing structure provides an advantage;
b. given an input value, find and/or interpret the output value using the given representation;
c. given an output value, find and/or interpret the input value using the given representation,
if it exists.
4. Make connections between verbal, tabular, algebraic, and graphical representations of a linear
function by
a. deriving one representation from the other;
b. identifying features of one representation given another representation;
c. determining how a graph is affected by a change to its equation.
5. Write the rule for a linear function given two input/output pairs or one
input/output pair and the rate of change.
Linear equations in A linear equation in two variables can be used to represent a constraint or condition on two-variable
two variables quantities in situations where neither of the variables is regarded as an input or an output. A linear
equation can also be used to represent a straight line in the coordinate plane.
1. Create and use a linear equation in two variables to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
2. Create a linear equation in two variables to model a constraint or condition on two quantities.
3. For a linear equation in two variables that represents a context,
a. interpret a solution, constant, variable, factor, or term based on the context, including situations
where seeing structure provides an advantage;
b. given a value of one quantity in the relationship, find a value of the other, if it exists.
4. Make connections between tabular, algebraic, and graphical representations of a linear equation in
two variables by
a. deriving one representation from the other;
b. identifying features of one representation given the other representation;
c. determining how a graph is affected by a change to its equation.
5. Write an equation for a line given two points on the line, one point and the slope of the line, or one
point and a parallel or perpendicular line.
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Systems of two 1. Create and use a system of two linear equations in two variables to solve problems in a variety of
linear equations in contexts.
two variables 2. Create a system of linear equations in two variables, and when in context interpret solutions in
terms of the context.
3. Make connections between tabular, algebraic, and graphical representations of the system by
deriving one representation from the other.
4. Solve a system of two linear equations in two variables, making strategic use of algebraic structure.
5. For a system of linear equations in two variables,
a. interpret a solution, constant, variable, factor, or term based on the context, including situations
where seeing structure provides an advantage;
b. determine the conditions under which the system has no solution, a unique solution, or
infinitely many solutions.
6. Fluently solve a system of linear equations in two variables.
Linear inequalities in 1. Create and use linear inequalities in one or two variables to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
one or two variables 2. Create linear inequalities in one or two variables, and when in context interpret the solutions in
terms of the context.
3. For linear inequalities in one or two variables, interpret a constant, variable, factor, or term,
including situations where seeing structure provides an advantage.
4. Make connections between tabular, algebraic, and graphical representations of linear inequalities
in one or two variables by deriving one from the other.
5. Given a linear inequality or system of linear inequalities, interpret a point in the solution set.
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Ratios, rates, Items will require students to solve problems by using a proportional relationship between quantities,
proportional calculating or using a ratio or rate, and/or using units, derived units, and unit conversion.
relationships,
and units
1. Apply proportional relationships, ratios, rates, and units in a wide variety of contexts. Examples
include but are not limited to scale drawings and problems in the natural and social sciences.
2. Solve problems involving
a. derived units, including those that arise from products (e.g., kilowatt-hours) and quotients
(e.g., population per square kilometer);
b. unit conversion, including currency exchange and conversion between different measurement
systems.
3. Understand and use the fact that when two quantities are in a proportional relationship, if one
changes by a scale factor, then the other also changes by the same scale factor.
Percentages 1. Use percentages to solve problems in a variety of contexts. Examples include, but are not limited to,
discounts, interest, taxes, tips, and percent increases and decreases for many different quantities.
2. Understand and use the relationship between percent change and growth factor (5% and 1.05, for
example); include percentages greater than or equal to 100%.
One-variable data: 1. Choose an appropriate graphical representation for a given data set.
measures of center 3. Analyze and interpret numerical data distributions represented with frequency tables, histograms,
4. For quantitative variables, calculate, compare, and interpret mean, median, and range. Interpret
(but don’t calculate) standard deviation.
5. Compare distributions using measures of center and spread, including distributions with different
means and the same standard deviations and ones with the same mean and different standard
deviations.
6. Understand and describe the effect of outliers on mean and median.
7. Given an appropriate data set, calculate the mean.
Two-variable 1. Using a model that fits the data in a scatterplot, compare values predicted by the model to values
data: models and given in the data set.
scatterplots 2. Interpret the slope and intercepts of the line of best fit in context.
3. Given a relationship between two quantities, read and interpret graphs and tables modeling the
relationship.
4. Analyze and interpret data represented in a scatterplot or line graph; fit linear, quadratic, and
exponential models.
5. Select a graph that represents a context, identify a value on a graph, or interpret information on the
graph.
6. For a given function type (linear, quadratic, exponential), choose the function of that type that best
fits given data.
7. Compare linear and exponential growth.
8. Estimate the line of best fit for a given scatterplot; use the line to make predictions.
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Probability and Use one- and two-way tables, tree diagrams, area models, and other representations to find relative
conditional frequency, probabilities, and conditional probabilities.
probability 1. Compute and interpret probability and conditional probability in simple contexts.
2. Understand formulas for probability and conditional probability in terms of frequency.
Inference from 1. Use sample mean and sample proportion to estimate population mean and population proportion.
margin of error 2. Interpret margin of error; understand that a larger sample size generally leads to a smaller margin
of error.
Evaluating 1. With random samples, describe which population the results can be extended to.
statistical claims: 2. Given a description of a study with or without random assignment, determine whether there is
observational evidence for a causal relationship.
studies and 3. Understand why random assignment provides evidence for a causal relationship.
experiments 4. Understand why a result can be extended only to the population from which the sample was
selected.
The redesigned sat ’s Math Test has responded to the research evidence
identifying what is essential for college readiness and success by focusing
significantly on problem solving and data analysis: the ability to create
a representation of a problem, consider the units involved, attend to
the meaning of quantities, and know and use different properties of
operations and objects. Problems in this category will require significant
quantitative reasoning about ratios, rates, and proportional relationships
and will place a premium on understanding and applying unit rate.
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Equivalent 1. Make strategic use of algebraic structure and the properties of operations to identify and create
expressions equivalent expressions, including
a. rewriting simple rational expressions;
b. rewriting expressions with rational exponents and radicals;
c. factoring polynomials.
2. Fluently add, subtract, and multiply polynomials.
Nonlinear equations 1. Make strategic use of algebraic structure, the properties of operations, and reasoning about
in one variable equality to
and systems of a. solve quadratic equations in one variable presented in a wide variety of forms; determine the
equations in two conditions under which a quadratic equation has no real solutions, one real solution, or two real
variables solutions;
b. solve simple rational and radical equations in one variable;
c. identify when the procedures used to solve a simple rational or radical equation in one variable
lead to an equation with solutions that do not satisfy the original equation (extraneous
solutions);
d. solve polynomial equations in one variable that are written in factored form;
e. solve linear absolute value equations in one variable;
f. solve systems of linear and nonlinear equations in two variables, including relating the solutions
to the graphs of the equations in the system.
2. Given a nonlinear equation in one variable that represents a context, interpret a solution, constant,
variable, factor, or term based on the context, including situations where seeing structure provides
an advantage.
3. Given an equation or formula in two or more variables that represents a context, view it as an
equation in a single variable of interest where the other variables are parameters and solve for the
variable of interest.
4. Fluently solve quadratic equations in one variable, written as a quadratic expression in standard
form equal to zero, where using the quadratic formula or completing the square is the most
efficient method for solving the equation.
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Nonlinear functions 1. Create and use quadratic or exponential functions to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
2. For a quadratic or exponential function,
a. identify or create an appropriate function to model a relationship between quantities;
b. use function notation to represent and interpret input/output pairs in terms of a context and
points on the graph;
c. for a function that represents a context, interpret the meaning of an input/output pair, constant,
variable, factor, or term based on the context, including situations where seeing structure
provides an advantage;
d. determine the most suitable form of the expression representing the output of the function to
display key features of the context, including
i. selecting the form of a quadratic that displays the initial value, the zeros, or the extreme value;
ii. selecting the form of an exponential that displays the initial value, the end-behavior
(for exponential decay), or the doubling or halving time;
e. make connections between tabular, algebraic, and graphical representations of the function by
i. given one representation, selecting another representation;
ii. identifying features of one representation given another representation, including
maximum and minimum values of the function;
iii. determining how a graph is affected by a change to its equation, including a vertical shift or
scaling of the graph.
3. For a factorable or factored polynomial or simple rational function,
a. use function notation to represent and interpret input/output pairs in terms of a context and
points on the graph;
b. understand and use the fact that for the graph of y = f(x), the solutions to f(x) = 0 correspond to
x-intercepts of the graph and f(0) corresponds to the y-intercept of the graph; interpret these
key features in terms of a context;
c. identify the graph given an algebraic representation of the function and an algebraic
representation given the graph (with or without a context).
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Area and volume 1. Solve real-world and mathematical problems about a geometric figure or an object that can be
modeled by a geometric figure using given information such as length, area, surface area, or
volume.
a. Apply knowledge that changing by a scale factor of k changes all lengths by a factor of k,
changes all areas by a factor of k2, and changes all volumes by a factor of k3.
b. Demonstrate procedural fluency by selecting the correct area or volume formula and correctly
calculating a specified value.
Lines, angles, and 1. Use concepts and theorems relating to congruence and similarity of triangles to solve problems.
triangles 2. Determine which statements may be required to prove certain relationships or to satisfy a given
theorem.
3. Apply knowledge that changing by a scale factor of k changes all lengths by a factor of k, but angle
measures remain unchanged.
4. Know and directly apply relevant theorems such as
a. the vertical angle theorem;
b. triangle similarity and congruence criteria;
c. triangle angle sum theorem;
d. the relationship of angles formed when a transversal cuts parallel lines.
Right triangles and 1. Solve problems in a variety of contexts using
trigonometry a. the Pythagorean theorem;
b. right triangle trigonometry;
c. properties of special right triangles.
2. Use similarity to calculate values of sine, cosine, and tangent.
3. Understand that when given one side length and one acute angle measure in a right triangle, the
remaining values can be determined.
4. Solve problems using the relationship between sine and cosine of complementary angles.
5. Fluently apply properties of special right triangles to determine side lengths and calculate
trigonometric ratios of 30, 45, and 60 degrees.
Circles 1. Use definitions, properties, and theorems relating to circles and parts of circles, such as radii,
diameters, tangents, angles, arcs, arc lengths, and sector areas, to solve problems.
2. Solve problems using
a. radian measure;
b. trigonometric ratios in the unit circle.
3. Create an equation to represent a circle in the xy-plane.
4. Describe how
a. a change to the equation representing a circle in the xy-plane affects the graph of the circle;
b. a change in the graph of the circle affects the equation of the circle.
5. Understand that the ordered pairs that satisfy an equation of the form
(x – h)2 + (y – k)2 = r2 form a circle when plotted in the xy-plane.
6. Convert between angle measures in degrees and radians.
7. Complete the square in an equation representing a circle to determine properties of the circle when
it is graphed in the xy-plane, and use the distance formula in problems related to circles.
Complex numbers 1. Apply knowledge and understanding of the complex number system to add, subtract, multiply, and
divide with complex numbers and solve problems.
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1 45
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The following distinctive features of the redesigned sat’s Math Test are
illustrated by sample questions that reflect the following:
1 46
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To see what this shift means, consider the following This question presents the student with a reasoning
question from the current sat: 1 puzzle unrelated to the school mathematics
curriculum. Being able to solve unfamiliar
Number of problems is valuable, but a test based entirely on
Consecutive this idea does not provide as much assurance that
Family Nights
students have learned essential math skills and
Jackson 10
practices — nor does it reward students for their
Callan 5 hard work in doing so.
Epstein 8
Liu 6 The redesigned sat’s Math Test focuses on applied
Benton 8 reasoning skills that are both essential for college
readiness and taught in challenging high school
The table above shows the number of consecutive math classrooms. This means that the questions
nights that each of five families stayed at a certain will require reasoning and insight as they relate to
hotel during a 14-night period. If the Liu family’s important curricular skills such as looking for and
stay did not overlap with the Benton family’s stay, making use of algebraic structure. In contrast to the
which of the 14 nights could be a night on which question on the left, consider the following sample
only one of the five families stayed at the hotel? from the Heart of Algebra category:
3x ++ 2y
fractions from the equation yields 3x 2y== 24.
24..
1 College Board, Official SAT Practice Test 2013–14 (New York: The College Board,
2013).
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The following two sample questions show some of the ways in which
fluency and understanding are important on the redesigned sat.
example 2
4x - y = 3y + 7
x + 8y = 4
A) 3
2
B) 1
4
C)
1
2
D) 11
9
2 National Research Council, Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics (Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press, 2001).
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example 3
A) –18
B) –2
C) 2
D) 10
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150
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example 4
Count of Manatees
6,000
5,000
Number of Manatees
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year
A) 0.75
B) 75
C) 150
D) 750
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example 5
Bacteria Growth
10
Dish 1
Area Covered (sq cm)
Dish 2
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (h)
A researcher places two colonies of bacteria into two petri dishes that
each have area 10 square centimeters. After the initial placement of the
bacteria (t = 0), the researcher measures and records the area covered by
the bacteria in each dish every ten minutes. The data for each dish were
fit by a smooth curve, as shown above, where each curve represents the
D) For the first hour, the area covered in Dish 2 is increasing at a higher
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Asking more than one question about a given scenario allows students item set:
taking the redesigned sat to do more sustained thinking and explore In the classroom, item sets manifest
situations in greater depth. Students will encounter longer problems the connections between different
like these in their postsecondary work. By including item sets, the domains and provide opportunities
for students to practice and extend
redesigned sat rewards and incentivizes aligned, productive work
their skills of abstraction, analysis,
in classrooms. and communication. In the
redesigned sat, item sets allow the
Item sets can be used to dig deeper into a student’s understanding of effective measurement of these skills
a construct or to make connections to other domains. For example, and inspire productive practice in
one question from a set may ask about statistics and probability and the classrooms.
the next may ask about the function that models the data. In the
classroom, item sets manifest the connections between domains and
provide opportunities for students to practice and extend their skills of
abstraction, analysis, and communication.
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example 6
Sara lives in the United States, but is on vacation in India. She used her
Traveler card for a purchase that cost 602 rupees (Indian currency). The
bank posted a charge of $9.88 to her account that included the 4% fee.
part 1
What foreign exchange rate, in Indian rupees per one U.S. dollar, did the
bank use for Sara’s charge? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.
part 2
A bank in India sells a prepaid credit card worth 7,500 rupees. Sara can
buy the prepaid card using dollars at the daily exchange rate with no fee,
but she will lose any money left unspent on the prepaid card. What is the
least number of the 7,500 rupees on the prepaid card Sara must spend
for the prepaid card to be cheaper than charging all her purchases on the
Traveler card? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of rupees.
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solution
part 1
Since the original cost is $9.50, to calculate the exchange rate r, in Indian
rupees per one U.S. dollar:
r rupees
9.50 dollars ¥ = 602 rupees
1 dollar
602
r=
9.50
ª 63 rupees
part 2
Let d dollars be the cost of the 7,500-rupee prepaid card. This implies
d
that the exchange rate on this particular day is dollars per
7,500
rupee. Suppose Sara’s total purchases on the prepaid card were r
rupees. The value of the r rupees in dollars is
d
(
7,500 )
r dollars. If Sara
spent the r rupees on the Traveler card instead, she would be charged
(1.04 ) (d
7,500 )
r dollars. To answer the question about how many
rupees Sara must spend in order to make the Traveler card a cheaper
option (in dollars) for spending the r rupees, we set up the inequality
1.04 ( d
7,500 )
r ≥ d. Rewriting both sides reveals 1.04 (r
7,500 )
d ≥ (1)d ,
from which we can infer 1.04
r
7,500 ( )
≥ 1. Dividing on both sides by 1.04
and multiplying on both sides by 7,500 finally yields r ≥ 7,212. Hence
the least number of rupees Sara must spend for the prepaid card to be
cheaper than the Traveler card is 7,212.
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A NO-CALCULATOR PORTION
The redesigned sat’s Math Test contains two portions: one in which the
student may use a calculator and another in which the student may not.
The no-calculator portion allows the redesigned sat to assess fluencies
valued by postsecondary instructors and includes conceptual questions
for which a calculator will not be helpful. Meanwhile, the calculator
portion gives insight into students’ capacity to use appropriate tools
strategically. The calculator is a tool that students must use (or not use)
judiciously.
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example 7
24 12
What is one possible solution to the equation - = 1?
x +1 x -1
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Summary
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Appendix B:
SAMPLE 1
Aaron is staying at a hotel that charges $99.95 per night plus tax for a
room. A tax of 8% is applied to the room rate, and an additional one-
time untaxed fee of $5.00 is charged by the hotel. Which of the following
represents Aaron’s total charge, in dollars, for staying x nights?
A) (99.95 + 0.08x) + 5
B) 1.08(99.95x) + 5
C) 1.08(99.95x + 5)
D) 1.08(99.95 + 5)x
key: B
calculator: Permitted
Choice B is correct. The total charge that Aaron will pay is the room rate,
the 8% tax on the room rate, and a fixed fee. If Aaron stayed x nights,
then the total charge is (99.95x + 0.08 × 99.95x) + 5, which can be
rewritten as 1.08(99.95x) + 5.
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Choice A is not the correct answer. The expression includes only a one-night
stay in the room and does not accurately account for tax on the room.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The expression includes tax on the
fee, and the hotel does not charge tax on the $5.00 fee.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The expression includes tax on the fee
and a fee charge for each night.
SAMPLE 2
The gas mileage for Peter’s car is 21 miles per gallon when the car travels at
an average speed of 50 miles per hour. The car’s gas tank has 17 gallons of
gas at the beginning of a trip. If Peter’s car travels at an average speed of 50
miles per hour, which of the following functions f models the number of
gallons of gas remaining in the tank t hours after the trip begins?
A) f(t) = 17 − 21
50t
B) f(t) = 17 − 50t
21
C) f(t) = 17 - 21t
50
17 - 50t
D) f(t) = 21
key: B
calculator: Permitted
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at the beginning of the trip. Therefore, the function that models the
number of gallons of gas remaining in the tank t hours after the trip
50t
begins is f(t) = 17 − .
21
Choice A is not the correct answer. The number of gallons of gas used each
hour is determined by dividing the average speed by the car’s gas mileage.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The number of gallons of gas used
21
each hour is misrepresented as . Also, the number of gallons used
50
each hour must be multiplied by time t before it is subtracted from the
number of gallons of gas in the tank at the beginning of the trip.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The number of gallons of gas used
each hour must be multiplied by time t before it is subtracted from the
number of gallons of gas in the tank at the beginning of the trip.
SAMPLE 3
9 7
If − 5 < −3t + 1 < − 4 , what is one possible value of 9t − 3?
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SAMPLE 4
5(k + 2) - 7 = 13 - (4 - k)
6 9
In the equation above, what is the value of k?
9
A)
17
9
B)
13
33
C)
17
33
D)
13
key: B
5k + 3 9 + k
Choice B is correct. Simplifying the numerators yields = ,
6 9
and cross-multiplication gives 45k + 27 = 54 + 6k. Solving for k yields
9
k= .
13
Choice A is not the correct answer. This value may result from not
correctly applying the distributive property on the right-hand side,
resulting in the expression 13 – 4 − k in the numerator. Correctly applying
the distributive property yields 13 – (4 – k) = 13 – 4 + k in the numerator.
Choice C is not the correct answer. This value may result from not
correctly applying the distributive property on the left-hand side,
resulting in the expression 5k + 2 – 7. Correctly applying the distributive
property yields 5(k + 2) – 7 = 5k + 3 in the numerator.
Choice D is not the correct answer. This value may result from not using
the appropriate order of operations when simplifying either numerator.
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SAMPLE 5
4x - y = 3y + 7
x + 8y = 4
Based on the system of equations above, what is the value of the product xy?
A) − 3
2
B) 1
4
C) 1
2
D) 11
9
key: C
Choice C is correct. There are several solution methods possible, but all
involve persevering in solving for the two variables and calculating the
product. For example, combining like terms in the first equation yields
4x – 4y = 7 and then multiplying that by 2 gives 8x – 8y = 14. When this
transformed equation is added to the second given equation, the y-terms
are eliminated, leaving an equation in just one variable: 9x = 18, or x = 2.
Substituting 2 for x in the second equation (one could use either to solve)
yields 2 + 8y = 4, which gives y = 1 . Finally, the product xy is 2 ¥ 1 = 1 .
4 4 2
Choice A is not the correct answer. Students who select this option
have most likely made a calculation error in transforming the second
equation (using –4x – 8y = –16 instead of –4x – 32y = –16) and used it to
eliminate the x-terms.
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Choice B is not the correct answer. This is the value of y for the solution
of the system, but it has not been put back into the system to solve for x
to determine the product xy.
SAMPLE 6
1 1
If x + y = 4, what is the value of 3x + 2y?
2 3
key: 24
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SAMPLE 7
The toll rates for crossing a bridge are $6.50 for a car and $10 for a truck.
During a two-hour period, a total of 187 cars and trucks crossed the
bridge, and the total collected in tolls was $1,338. Solving which of the
following systems of equations yields the number of cars, x, and the
number of trucks, y, that crossed the bridge during the two hours?
A) x + y = 1,338
B) x + y = 187
1,338
6.5x + 10y =
2
C) x + y = 187
D) x + y = 187
key: C
calculator: Permitted
Choice A is not the correct answer. The student may have mismatched the
symbolic expressions for total cars and trucks and total tolls collected with
the two numerical values given. The expression x + y represents the total
number of cars and trucks that crossed the bridge, which is 187.
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Choice B is not the correct answer. The student may have attempted to
use the information that the counts of cars, trucks, and tolls were taken
over a period of two hours, but this information is not needed in setting
up the correct system of equations. The expression 6.5x + 10y represents
$1,338
the total amount of tolls collected, which is $1,338, not .
2
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may have attempted to
use the information that the counts of cars, trucks, and tolls were taken
over a period of two hours, but this information is not needed in setting
up the correct system of equations. The expression 6.5x + 10y represents
the total amount of tolls collected, which is $1,338, not $1,338 × 2.
SAMPLE 8
A) 6 B) 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x
–6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 O 1 2 3 4 5 6 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 O 1 2 3 4 5 6
–1 –1
–2 –2
–3 –3
–4 –4
–5 –5
–6 –6
y y
C) 6 D) 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x
–6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 O 1 2 3 4 5 6 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 O 1 2 3 4 5 6
–1 –1
–2 –2
–3 –3
–4 –4
–5 –5
–6 –6
key: B
calculator: Permitted
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Choice A is not the correct answer. The student may have seen that the
term k(x + y) is a multiple of x + y and wrongly concluded that this is the
equation of a line with slope 1.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The student may have made
incorrect steps when simplifying the equation or may have not seen the
advantage that putting the equation in slope-intercept form would give
in determining the graph, and thus wrongly concluded the graph has a
nonzero y-intercept.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may not have seen
that the term k(x + y) can be multiplied out and the variables x and y
isolated, and wrongly concluded that the graph of the equation cannot
be a line.
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SAMPLE 9
1 1
x - y = 5
2 4
ax - 3y = 20
1
A)
2
B) 2
C) 6
D) 12
key: C
1
1
ax – 3y is a multiple of the expression x - y . Since −3y = 12 -
4 y ,
4
( )
the expression ax – 3y would have to be 12 times the expression
1
2
1 1
( )
x - y. This means ax = 12 x , so a = 6. The resulting system is
4
2
1 1
x - y = 5 and 6x – 3y = 20, which is equivalent to 6x – 3y = 60 and
2 4
6x – 3y = 20, which has no solution.
Choice A is not the correct answer. This may result from the misconception
that if each equation in a system has the same x-coefficient, the system
1
cannot have a solution. But if a = , subtracting the two equations
2
eliminates x and produces a solution to the system.
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Choice B is not the correct answer. This may result from trying to make
the second equation in the system a multiple of the first by looking at the
ratio of the constants on the right sides, 20 , and wrongly concluding that
5
the second equation must be 4 times the first, which would give a = 4
1
2
, ()
or a = 2. But the two equations in a system are multiples only if the system
has infinitely many solutions, not if the system has no solution.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may have found the
factor, 12, that multiplies the left side of the first equation to yield the left
side of the second, but then neglected to find a = 12
1
2 ()
, or a = 6.
SAMPLE 10
When a scientist dives in salt water to a depth of 9 feet below the surface,
the pressure due to the atmosphere and surrounding water is 18.7 pounds
per square inch. As the scientist descends, the pressure increases linearly.
At a depth of 14 feet, the pressure is 20.9 pounds per square inch. If the
pressure increases at a constant rate as the scientist’s depth below the surface
increases, which of the following linear models best describes the pressure p
in pounds per square inch at a depth of d feet below the surface?
A) p = 0.44d + 0.77
B) p = 0.44d + 14.74
C) p = 2.2d – 1.1
D) p = 2.2d – 9.9
key: B
calculator: Permitted
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Choice A is not the correct answer. The rate is calculated correctly, but
the student may have incorrectly used the ordered pair (18.7, 9) rather
than (9, 18.7) to calculate the pressure at a depth of 0 feet.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The rate here is incorrectly calculated
by subtracting 20.9 and 18.7 and not dividing by 5. The student then uses
the coordinate pair d = 9 and p = 18.7 in conjunction with the incorrect
slope of 2.2 to write the equation of the linear model.
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Sample Questions:
SAMPLE 11
Count of Manatees
6,000
5,000
Number of Manatees
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year
A) 0.75
B) 75
C) 150
D) 750
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key: C
calculator: Permitted
Choice C is correct. The slope of the line of best fit is the value of the average
increase in manatees per year. Using approximate values found along the
line of best fit (1,200 manatees in 1991 and 4,200 manatees in 2011), the
approximate slope can be calculated as 3,000 = 150 .
20
Choice A is not the correct answer. This value may result from
disregarding the actual scale when approximating the slope and
interpreting the scale as if each square represents one unit.
Choice B is not the correct answer. This value may result from
disregarding the actual scale when approximating the slope, and
interpreting the scale as if each square along the x-axis represents one
year and each tick mark along the y-axis represents 100 manatees.
Choice D is not the correct answer. This value may result from
disregarding the actual scale along the x-axis when approximating the
slope and interpreting each square along the x-axis as one year.
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SAMPLE 12
Bacteria Growth
10
Dish 1
Area Covered (sq cm)
Dish 2
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (h)
A researcher places two colonies of bacteria into two petri dishes that
each have area 10 square centimeters. After the initial placement of the
bacteria (t = 0), the researcher measures and records the area covered by
the bacteria in each dish every ten minutes. The data for each dish were
fit by a smooth curve, as shown above, where each curve represents the
D) For the first hour, the area covered in Dish 2 is increasing at a higher
key: B
calculator: Permitted
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Choice B is the correct answer. Each petri dish has area 10 square
centimeters, and so at time t = 0, Dish 1 is 10% covered 1 and
10 ( )
( )
Dish 2 is 20% covered 2 . Thus the statement in B is true.
10
Choice A is not the correct answer. At the end of the observations, both
dishes are 100% covered with bacteria, but at time t = 0, neither dish is
100% covered.
Choice D is not the correct answer. After the first hour, it is still true that
more of Dish 2 is covered by bacteria than is Dish 1, but for the first hour
the area of Dish 1 that is covered has been increasing at a higher average rate
(about 0.8 sq cm/hour) than the area of Dish 2 (about 0.1 sq cm/hour).
SAMPLE 13
A) 3
B) 10
C) 56
D) 144
key: B
calculator: Permitted
In this problem, students must use the unit rate (data-transmission rate)
and the conversion between gigabits and megabits as well as conversions
in units of time. Unit analysis is critical to solving the problem correctly,
and the problem represents a typical calculation that would be done
when working with electronic files and data-transmission rates.
A calculator is recommended in solving this problem.
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each day (
3 megabits 60 seconds 60 minutes
1 second
×
1 minute
×
1 hour
× 11 hours , which is
Choice A is not the correct answer. The student may not have
synthesized all of the information. This answer may result from
multiplying 3 (rate in megabits per second) by 11 (hours receiving)
and dividing by 11.2 (size of image in gigabits), neglecting to convert
3 megabits per second into megabits per hour and to utilize the
information about 1 gigabit equaling 1,024 megabits.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The student may not have
synthesized all of the information. This answer may result from
converting the number of gigabits in an image to megabits (11,470),
multiplying by the rate of 3 megabits per second (34,410), and then
converting 11 hours into minutes (660) instead of seconds.
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may not have synthesized
all of the information. This answer may result from converting 11 hours
into seconds (39,600), then dividing the result by 3 gigabits converted
into megabits (3,072), and multiplying by the size of one typical image.
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SAMPLE 14
According to the table, for which age group did the greatest percentage
of people report that they had voted?
A) 18- to 34-year-olds
B) 35- to 54-year-olds
C) 55- to 74-year-olds
D) People 75 years old and over
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SAMPLE 15
Of the 18- to 34-year-olds who reported voting, 500 people were selected at
random to do a follow-up survey where they were asked which candidate
they voted for. There were 287 people in this follow-up survey sample who
said they voted for Candidate A, and the other 213 people voted for someone
else. Using the data from both the follow-up survey and the initial survey,
which of the following is most likely to be an accurate statement?
A) About 123 million people 18 to 34 years old would report voting for
Candidate A in the November 2012 presidential election.
B) About 76 million people 18 to 34 years old would report voting for
Candidate A in the November 2012 presidential election.
C) About 36 million people 18 to 34 years old would report voting for
Candidate A in the November 2012 presidential election.
D) About 17 million people 18 to 34 years old would report voting for
Candidate A in the November 2012 presidential election.
SOLUTION SAMPLE 14
key: C
calculator: Permitted
Choice A is not the correct answer. The question is asking for the age
group with the largest percentage of self-reported voters. This answer
reflects the age group with the smallest percentage of self-reported
voters. This group’s percentage of self-reported voters is 48.1%, or
30,329
, which is less than that of the 55- to 74-year-old group.
63,008
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Choice B is not the correct answer. The question is asking for the age
group with the largest percentage of self-reported voters. This answer
reflects the age group with the largest number of self-reported voters, not
the largest percentage. This group’s percentage of self-reported voters is
47,085
63.4%, or , which is less than that of the 55- to 74-year-old group.
74,282
Choice D is not the correct answer. The question is asking for the age
group with the largest percentage of self-reported voters. This answer
reflects the age group with the smallest number of self-reported voters, not
the largest percentage. This group’s percentage of self-reported voters is
12,459
70.0%, or , which is less than that of the 55- to 74-year-old group.
17,794
SOLUTION SAMPLE 15
key: D
calculator: Permitted
Choice A is not the correct answer. The student may not have multiplied the
fraction of the sample by the correct subgroup of people (18- to 34-year-olds
who voted). This answer may result from multiplying the fraction by the
entire population, which is an incorrect application of the information.
Choice B is not the correct answer. The student may not have multiplied
the fraction of the sample by the correct subgroup of people (18- to
34-year-olds who voted). This answer may result from multiplying the
fraction by the total number of people who voted, which is an incorrect
application of the information.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The student may not have multiplied
the fraction of the sample by the correct subgroup of people (18- to
34-year-olds who voted). This answer may result from multiplying the
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Sara lives in the United States, but is on vacation in India. She used her
Traveler card for a purchase that cost 602 rupees (Indian currency). The
bank posted a charge of $9.88 to her account that included the 4% fee.
PART 1
What foreign exchange rate, in Indian rupees per one U.S. dollar, did the
bank use for Sara’s charge? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.
PART 2
A bank in India sells a prepaid credit card worth 7,500 rupees. Sara can
buy the prepaid card using dollars at the daily exchange rate with no fee,
but she will lose any money left unspent on the prepaid card. What is the
least number of the 7,500 rupees on the prepaid card Sara must spend
for the prepaid card to be cheaper than charging all her purchases on the
Traveler card? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of rupees.
calculator: Permitted
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1.04x = 9.88
x = 9.5
Since the original cost is $9.50, to calculate the exchange rate r, in Indian
rupees per one U.S. dollar:
r rupees
9.50 dollars ¥ = 602 rupees
1 dollar
602
r=
9.50
ª 63 rupees
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Sample Questions:
Passport to Advanced Math
SAMPLE 17
key: 10
There is more than one way to solve this problem. A student can
apply standard techniques by rewriting the equation a2 + 14a = 51 as
a2 + 14a - 51 = 0 and then factoring. Since the coefficient of a is 14 and
the constant term is –51, factoring a2 + 14a - 51 = 0 requires writing
51 as the product of two numbers that differ by 14. This is 51 = (3)(17 ) ,
which gives the factorization a2 + 14a - 51 = (a + 17 )(a - 3) = 0. The
possible values of a are a = –17 and a = 3. Since it is given that a > 0,
it must be true that a = 3. Thus, the value of a + 7 is 3 + 7 = 10.
A student could also use the quadratic formula to find the possible values of a:
-14 ± 14 2 - 4 (1)(-51) -14 ± 196 - (-204 ) -14 ± 400 -14 ± 20
a= = = = .
2(1) 2 2 2
-14 - 20 -14 + 20
The possible values of a are a = 2
= -17 and a = = 3.
2
Again, since it is given that a > 0, it must be true that a = 3. Thus, the
value of a + 7 is 3 + 7 = 10.
There is another way to solve this problem that will reward the student
who recognizes that adding 49 to both sides of the equation yields
a2 + 14a + 49 = 51 + 49, or rather (a + 7)2 = 100, which has a perfect
square on each side. Since a > 0, the solution a + 7 = 10 is evident.
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SAMPLE 18
A) –18
B) –2
C) 2
D) 10
key: A
calculator: Permitted
Students could tackle this problem in many different ways, but the focus
is on their understanding of the zeros of a polynomial function and how
they are used to construct algebraic representations of polynomials.
Choice C is not the correct answer. This is the value of p, not c. Using this
value as the third factor of the polynomial will reveal that the value of c is –18.
Choice D is not the correct answer. This represents a sign error in the
final step in determining the value of c.
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SAMPLE 19
3
2
1
x
–3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3
2
x +y =5 2 –1
y = x2 - 3 –2
–3
x - y =1
A system of three equations and their graphs in the xy-plane are shown
above. How many solutions does the system have?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
key: B
calculator: Permitted
Choice A is not the correct answer. This answer may reflect the
misconception that a system of equations can have only one solution.
Choice C is not the correct answer. This answer may reflect the
misconception that a system of equations has as many solutions as the
number of equations in the system.
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Choice D is not the correct answer. This answer may reflect the
misconception that the solutions of the system are represented by the
points where any two of the curves intersect, rather than the correct
concept that the solutions are represented only by the points where all
three curves intersect.
SAMPLE 20
24 12
What is one possible solution to the equation - = 1?
x +1 x -1
key: 5 or 7
Students should look for the best solution methods for solving rational
equations before they begin. Looking for structure and common
denominators will prove very useful at the onset and will help prevent
complex computations that do not lead to a solution.
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SAMPLE 21
1 2 1
+ =
x x 5
Anise needs to complete a printing job using both of the printers in her
office. One of the printers is twice as fast as the other, and together the
printers can complete the job in 5 hours. The equation above represents
the situation described. Which of the following describes what the
1
expression represents in this equation?
x
A) The time, in hours, that it takes the slower printer to complete the
printing job alone
B) The portion of the job that the slower printer would complete in one
hour
C) The portion of the job that the faster printer would complete in two
hours
1
D) The time, in hours, that it takes the slower printer to complete of
5
the printing job
key: B
1
Choice B is correct. From the description given, is the portion of the
5
job that the two printers, working together, can complete in one hour,
and each term in the sum on the left side is the part of this 1 of the job
5
that one of the printers contributes. Since one of the printers is twice
2
as fast as the other, describes the portion of the job that the faster
x
1
printer is able to complete in one hour and describes the portion of
x
the job that the slower printer is able to complete in one hour.
Choice A is not the correct answer. The student may have not seen that
in this context, the rates (that is, the work completed in a fixed time) of
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the printers can be added to get the combined rate, but the times it takes
each printer to complete the job cannot be added to get the time for both
printers working together, since the time for printers working together
is less than, not greater than, the times for each printer alone. Hence the
terms in the sum cannot refer to hours worked. In fact, the time it would
take the slower printer to complete the whole job is x hours.
Choice C is not the correct answer. The student may have seen that
1
x
is the smaller term in the sum, wrongly concluded that the smaller
term must apply to the faster printer, and then assumed the 2 in the
numerator of the second term implies the equation describes work
completed in 2 hours. In fact, the portion of the job that the faster
2 4
printer could complete in 2 hours is (2 ) x = x . ()
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may have correctly
1
seen that the value on the right side refers to the portion of the
5
job completed, but not seen that in this context, the rates (that is, the
work completed in a fixed time) of the printers can be added to get the
combined rate, but the times it takes each printer to complete the job
cannot be added to get the time for both printers working together.
Hence the terms in the sum cannot refer to hours worked. In fact, the
1 x
time it takes the slower printer to complete of the job is hours.
5 5
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SAMPLE 22
x 2 + y 2 = 153
y = -4x
A) –51
B) 3
C) 9
D) 144
key: C
calculator: Permitted
Choice B is not the correct answer. This answer may result from finding
the value for x, not the value of x 2 .
Choice D is not the correct answer. This answer may result from finding
2
the value of y , not x 2 .
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SAMPLE 23
4x 2
If the expression is written in the equivalent form 1 + A,
2x - 1 2x - 1
what is A in terms of x?
A) 2x + 1
B) 2x – 1
C) 4x2
D) 4x2 − 1
key: A
calculator: Permitted
2x + 1
2x - 1 4x 2
4x 2 - 2x
2x
2x - 1
1
1
Since the remainder 1 matches the numerator in , it is clear that
2x - 1
A = 2x + 1.
A short way to find the answer is to use the structure to rewrite the
numerator of the expression as (4x 2 - 1) + 1, recognizing the term in
parentheses as a difference of squares, making the expression equal to
(2x - 1)(2x + 1) + 1 1
= 2x + 1 + . From this, the answer 2x + 1
2x - 1 2x - 1
is apparent. Another way to find the answer is to isolate A in the form
4x 2 1
A = 4x 2 = -1 and simplify. As with the first approach, this approach
2x - 1 2x - 1
also requires students to recognize 4x 2 - 1 as a difference of squares that factors.
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Choice B is not the correct answer. The student may have made a sign
error while subtracting partial quotients in the long division.
4x 2
=
(1) 4x 2( )
=
1
+ 4x 2 .
2x - 1 2x - 1 2x - 1
Choice D is not the correct answer. The student may misunderstand
how to work with fractions and may have tried the incorrect calculation
4x 2 1 + 4x 2 - 1 1
= = + 4x 2 - 1.
2x - 1 2x - 1 2x - 1
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Sample Questions:
Additional Topics in Math
SAMPLE 24
The figure above shows a metal hex nut with two regular hexagonal faces
and a thickness of 1 cm. The length of each side of a hexagonal face is
2 cm. A hole with a diameter of 2 cm is drilled through the nut. The
density of the metal is 7.9 grams per cubic cm. What is the mass of this
nut, to the nearest gram? (Density is mass divided by volume.)
key: 57
calculator: Permitted
To solve this problem, students need to find the volume of the hex nut
and then use the given fact that density is mass divided by volume.
Finding the volume of the hex nut requires several steps. The first step is to
calculate the area of one of the hexagonal faces (without the drilled hole).
Each face is a regular hexagon, which can be divided into 6 equilateral
triangles with side lengths of 2 cm. Using 30-60-90 triangle properties,
the height of each equilateral triangle is 3 cm. In turn, the area of one
1 1
equilateral triangle is bh = (2)( 3) = 3 square cm, so the area of the
2 2
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mass
Finally, density is mass divided by volume, 7.9 = . Multiplying
6 3-π
both sides of the equation by (6 3 - π) yields the mass of the hex nut as
7.9( 6 3 - π ) grams. When the values for 3 and π are substituted and
the result is rounded to the nearest gram, the answer is approximately
57 grams. Note that it is critical for students to attend to the precision
of their calculations when solving this problem and not apply any
intermediate rounding until the final answer is reached. Here, the use of a
calculator provides the ability to attend to precision more effectively and
thus is highly encouraged.
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SAMPLE 25
C D
A B
The semicircle above has a radius of r inches, and chord CD is parallel
to the diameter AB . If the length of CD is 2 of the length of AB ,
3
what is the distance between the chord and the diameter in terms of r?
1
A) πr
3
2
B) πr
3
2
C) r
2
5
D) r
3
content: Additional Topics in Math
key: D
( )
2 2
r 2 = x 2 + r , where r represents the radius of the circle and x
3
represents the distance between the chord and the diameter.
Choice A is not the correct answer. It does not represent the length
of the distance between the chord and the diameter. The student who
selects this answer may have tried to use the circumference formula to
determine the distance rather than making use of the radius of the circle
to create a triangle.
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Choice B is not the correct answer. It does not represent the length
of the distance between the chord and the diameter. The student who
selects this answer may have tried to use the circumference formula to
determine the distance rather than making use of the radius of the circle
to create a triangle.
Choice C is not the correct answer. It does not represent the length
of the distance between the chord and the diameter. The student who
selects this answer may have made a triangle within the circle, using
a radius to connect the chord and the diameter, but then may have
mistaken the triangle for a 45-45-90 triangle and tried to use this
relationship to determine the distance.
SAMPLE 26
A) π - x
B) x - π
C) 2π + x
D) x - 2π
key: B
In problems like this, students must reason how angles x and w are
related based on their corresponding sine values and determine the
radian measure of angle w, given the parameters of angle x.
Choice B is correct. If an angle with radian measure x such that π < x < π
2
is placed in standard position, its terminal side will fall in Quadrant II, and
sin x = a will be the y-coordinate of the point P where its terminal side
intersects the unit circle. If sinw = -a, then when the angle with radian
measure w is placed in standard position, its terminal side will intersect
the unit circle at a point with y-coordinate equal to –a. There are two
such points on the unit circle: the reflection of P across the x-axis, which
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Choice A is not the correct answer. In general sin (-x ) = - sin x and
sin (x + π ) = - sin x, so sin (π - x ) = - sin (-x ) = -(- sin x ) = sin x.
Therefore, sin (π - x ) = a, not -a.
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Executive Summary
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our commitment
The Redesigned SAT:
We will make the redesigned sat the most transparent exam in the
assessment field. This document is just the first in a series of efforts that
will provide information about and examples of the redesigned exam
as early and completely as possible so that all students will know what
to expect on the day of the test, and all other stakeholders will have a
clear sense of what the test contains. What the test measures will be
no mystery. How we go about measuring students’ reading, writing,
language, and mathematics skills will be widely known.
The exam students receive on test day will be a challenging yet appropriate
and fair assessment of what they know and can do. The questions will
not be tricky or obscure but will instead focus on the knowledge, skills,
and understandings that matter most for college and career readiness
and success. As is true of the current sat, our extensive and intensive test
development process (see Appendix A) will identify and then improve or
remove questions that contain errors, more than one correct answer (or no
good answer), imprecision, ambiguities, biases, or other flaws.
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Executive Summary
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appendix a
The Craft of Developing the SAT:
How We Do It
At the College Board, we have set a high bar for the redesigned sat .
We seek to make the exam an excellent assessment that will deeply
reflect the work that students need to do to be ready for and successful
in college and in career paths. The individual questions and the test as
a whole reflect a deep commitment to craft, reinforce enriching and
valuable schoolwork, and can be used by states and teachers to help
define the level of rigor required for students to be college and career
ready by no later than the end of high school.
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Guiding Principles
To achieve the vision outlined above, each and every test form for the
redesigned sat must be developed with care and expertise at every stage
of the process. To that end, we have implemented a test development
process that helps ensure that our sat questions:
» are evidence based, focused on the core set of knowledge, skills, and
understandings that are most important to prepare students for the
rigors of college and career (see Section II);
» measure student knowledge, skills, and understandings as directly and
authentically as possible by employing a range of question types relevant
to instruction and life;
» are worth doing, crafted out of rich, engaging passages and contexts,
reflective of best instructional practices, and rewarding of the academic
excellence that any student can attain through deliberate practice;
» are motivating and interesting, as engaging and relevant to students as
possible;
» are written with the help of classroom teachers at the middle school,
high school, and postsecondary levels;
» are reviewed by multiple independent experts active in the field of
education for content and fairness issues prior to pretesting and again
prior to operational administration; and
» are accessible and fair to all students, having been developed to be
content relevant, accurate, authentic and respectful in representation,
and consistent with universal design principles.
The test development process for the redesigned sat , described in
this section and represented in the graphic below, is based on these
guiding principles.
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Operational
Develop
Form
Specifications
Preparation
and Quality
Assurance
Based on Guidance from
Nationwide Education Experts
Operational à Educational Researchers
Form à Assessment Specialists
External à K–12 Classroom Teachers Develop
Content à Postsecondary Classroom Teachers Stimuli and
& Fairness à Subject-Matter/Content Experts Questions
Reviews à Fairness Reviewers
Initial
Operational
Forms External Content
Assembly & Fairness
Reviews Prior
Pilot and
to Pretesting
Pretest Questions
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The sat is, at its core, a postsecondary admission and guidance exam, and
as such is designed to be a strong predictor of postsecondary success as
measured by first-year gpa, retention to second and subsequent years, and
overall completion of postsecondary education. The predictive validity of
the exam — its ability to estimate the likelihood of success in postsecondary
education — is what makes the exam a valuable part of the admission
process in colleges and universities. The sat has been redesigned to
maintain if not strengthen this predictive validity while accomplishing other
aims, such as offering greater insight into student performance.
The redesigned sat’s test domain definitions are based on the highest-quality
information and resources available about the essential requirements for
college and career readiness and success. Scholarly research and empirical
data derived from curriculum surveys conducted by the College Board and
other organizations play an important role in informing these definitions.
College Board measurement and content staff work with educational
experts in examining the evidence and defining the domain of knowledge,
skills, and understandings to be measured in accordance with the sat’s
primary purpose and the claims associated with each test.
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Reading Test
In the redesigned sat’s Reading Test, students engage with texts worth
reading and worthy of careful consideration. All passages are selected
from previously published, authentic writing that represents the best of
the genres represented on the test. The passages are powerful, insightful
pieces that students will likely find themselves thinking about long after
they have finished the test.
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Essay
The redesigned sat’s Essay asks students to produce a clear and cogent
written analysis using evidence drawn from a given source text. The
Essay task, therefore, clearly aligns with the demands of college and
career readiness, which require that students draw on evidence to
support their arguments and inform their writing rather than just offer
their opinions or convey their experiences. The passages used in the
Essay are generally drawn from a category that might be described
as arguments written for a broad audience — that is, engaging, well-
written, well-argued texts that take and develop, in a widely accessible
way, a position on an issue. The task design, as noted in Section III, is
uniform across test administrations, meaning that what’s expected of
students is transparent, the key variable being the passage itself (which is
only revealed at the time of testing).
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Math Test
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Once questions and tasks have been pretested and statistics associated
with them have been computed, the materials are reviewed by
measurement and content specialists (including active classroom
teachers at both the secondary and postsecondary levels) for content
accuracy, fairness, statistical discrimination, difficulty, and differential
performance among groups of tested students.
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Once test forms are initially constructed, they undergo multiple internal
and external content and fairness reviews prior to finalization and
preparation for publication. External review committee members are
typically active classroom teachers drawn from across the nation and
from both the secondary and postsecondary levels.
20 6